For several years now, the 40th Ward neighbors have voiced concerns about the dangerous traffic conditions on Granville Avenue, which hosts an elementary school and a park, as well as being a dense residential neighborhood. While Granville Avenue is a residential street, neighbors have expressed concern that it is being used more like an arterial street.
Our office, along with the 48th and 50th Ward, have been working with the Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) Complete Streets to address these issues and improve pedestrian safety on Granville Avenue. In studying Granville, CDOT identified several major concerns that align with what we’ve heard from the community:
- High traffic volumes: CDOT reports that there is three times the traffic volume on Granville than that of a typical residential street, due to drivers using Granville to avoid Peterson and Devon.
- Dangerously high speeds: Top speeds over 50 MPH have been recorded throughout the Granville corridor.
- Traffic crash hot spot: Granville Avenue is in the top 10% of traffic crashes on residential streets in the entire city of Chicago, with many blocks located within our ward ranking in the top 5% or even 1% of traffic crashes. The vast majority of drivers causing crashes that result in injury do not live in the neighborhood, while the majority of people who are injured as a result of these crashes do live in the neighborhood.
Together with the 50th and 48th Wards, we are hosting a community meeting on October 15th to discuss how we can improve traffic safety throughout the Granville Corridor. Representatives from CDOT will present their findings and a proposal to improve pedestrian safety in the neighborhood. You can find all the details below:
- When: Tuesday, October 15th, 6-8pm
- Where: Misericordia Courtyard Inn (6300 N Ridge)
We look forward to working with neighbors to transform Granville Avenue from a cut-through street to a community street!