On Tuesday, March 29th, our office held a community meeting at Budlong Elementary to present a traffic safety proposal for the area surrounding the school.
Parents and staff at Budlong Elementary have raised concerns about traffic safety during drop-off and pick-up hours, including cars ignoring stop signs, and speeding down both Carmen and Washtenaw. Our office requested the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) conduct a traffic study to propose improvements, which they presented at the meeting.
If you missed the meeting, you can view a recording below, or read on for more details!
Traffic Safety Recommendations
CDOT recommended the following improvements:
- Temporary conversion of Washtenaw during drop-off hours
- Speed humps and bumpouts
- Repainted crosswalks at Foster & Washtenaw
- Additional school signage on Foster
Temporary One-Way Conversion
The main recommendation of the study was to temporarily convert Washtenaw between Carmen and Winona to a one-way southbound during school drop-off hours.
Temporary one-way conversions are a typical treatment used at schools during pick-up and drop-off, because they reduce the number of conflicts at an intersection. The one-way designation is brief––typically only 15-30 minutes during the peak drop-off times. School staff are responsible for placing and removing the sawhorses.
Traffic Calming
CDOT also recommended speed humps, which both reduce speeding and discourage cut-through traffic, and a series of detached bumpouts, which narrow the crossing distance for pedestrians, improve sign visibility, and prevent cars from parking in front of crosswalks and blocking visibility of predestrians crossing the street.
The proposed improvements include temporarily converting Washtenaw between Winona and Carmen to one-way southbound during morning drop-off hours, and adding speed humps and bump outs surrounding the school to increase stop sign compliance and decrease speeding.
How to Give Feedback
If you live in the area, or have children who attend Budlong Elementary, we’d love to hear your feedback! Fill out the feedback form at bit.ly/infrastructurefeedback. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our office at 40thward.org/contact or by calling 773-654-1867.