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Oak Park is known for its architecture, but those who spend a lot of time in the village know it even better for its traffic. The intersection of Austin Boulevard and Madison Street has the ability to get a person to their destination 10 or even 15 minutes late, even if the commuter has plenty of time to spare – all because the traffic light doesn’t have a left turn signal. The Wednesday Journal reached out to village engineer Bill McKenna to find out why Oak Park Village has denied drivers the ability to safely and legally turn left. His answer was simple. “The traffic lights in Austin and Madison are owned and controlled by the City of Chicago,” said McKenna. Even the earliest birds are denied the worm when it comes to this crossbreeding. At certain times of the day, drivers can go through several cycles of red light, yellow light, green light and never find a window in the traffic that gives them enough time to make the otherwise easy left turn. In most cases, drivers end up on red as a last resort, basically in full sight of the police, who are conveniently located on Madison Street just steps from the intersection in question. Having a left turn signal makes sense, but McKenna shared the reasons for not having one. “Typically, this is supposed to increase the amount of through traffic flowing through the intersection,” he said, noting that many Chicago intersections do not have dedicated left turn signals. Although McKenna is not under the control of Oak Park Village, McKenna said the intersection, along with accident data, would be evaluated later this fall and winter as part of his post-diet traffic study of Madison Street. If the study determines that a left turn signal is warranted, the village would bring that decision to the city of Chicago for discussion, according to the village engineer. “Adding a left turn signal here would require signal enhancements, and there is currently no funding for signal enhancement at this intersection,” McKenna said. The village engineer had failed to foresee that the city of Chicago would have concerns about putting a left turn signal on Madison Street and Austin Boulevard “if it was necessary and the village should agree to pay for it”. He found that adding a left turn signal isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. “It would potentially require a complete replacement of the traffic lights at the intersection, which could cost $ 400,000, so this is a budget issue for the village and is only recommended if required for safety or traffic congestion reasons,” McKenna said. To date, according to McKenna, the village has received no complaints from drivers about the lack of a left turn signal. However, there were verbal complaints, at least from this reporter, as he waited for an opportunity to turn left on Madison Street and then back into the newsroom to find solace in the compassion of his colleagues. To file a more formal complaint, drivers can drive past City Hall at 123 Madison St. in case the traffic subsides so the cars can turn left.
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