City Council Passes Policy to Improve Safety on Highland Park Roads
Peggy Laemle and I first proposed the idea of a Complete Streets Policy to the City of Highland Park in 2009, and are excited to report that it has been approved by City Council. The Plan “lays out a vision and practical steps that the City can take over the coming years to improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists in Highland Park…”, according to the minutes of the Council meeting.
Many advocates of making streets safer for all users were in the audience ready to read their prepared statements in favor of passage of this plan. Before we could say a word, any word, a City Council member moved to accept the plan, which was quickly seconded. Before the vote was called, Michael Blue, Director of Community Development, took a moment to thank all those who had worked so hard on this plan including City staff members Lee Smith and Joe Pasquesi; the Transportation Commission, Plan Commission, and Natural Resource Commission; the many advocates who worked for over 3 years to move the plan forward; and advisors from the Active Transportation Alliance.
The Complete Streets policy shows a commitment by the City of Highland Park to accommodate all users of the roadways, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and motorists in all new transportation projects whenever appropriate, including the design of new facilities and the improvement and maintenance of existing roads and sidewalks. It is in keeping with Highland Park's Sustainability Plan goals, and the Healthy Highland Park initiative.
We are fortunate to live in a community with excellent bicycle and pedestrian access. The passage of this Policy will ensure that future projects maintain Highland Park’s character. Complete streets play an important role in livable communities, where all people – regardless of age, ability or mode of transportation – feel safe and welcome on the roadways.
by Kim Stone and Peg Laemle
David Greenberg
10:52 pm on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Don't get me wrong for what I'm about to say - I'm an AVID mountain biker. But safety for bicyclists is a two-way street (no pun intended). There's hardly a day that goes by that I don't see some bicyclist or bicyclists doing something extremely stupid and dangerous.
Let's review some of the one's I've seen in the past week:
* Bicyclist riding eastbound up the hill at Lake Cook Road. Suddenly pulls into the middle "turn" lane, cuts into the left turn lane, heads into the southbound lane on Green Bay Road, cuts across into the Northbound lane - this person was almost hit by several vehicles.
* Bicyclists riding in the street on Green Bay Road - there's a beautiful bicycle trail oh, about 1/4 mile to the east.
* Bicyclists riding in the street on St Johns Avenue (southbound) - there's a beautiful bicycle trail about 200 feet to the west
* Bicyclists riding on Sheridan Road - this 2 lane road is narrow enough, and gets somewhat harrowing when the landscapers park their trucks illegally on the highway in many spots, not to mention the curves. So as one passes the illegally parked vehicles, one can sometimes encounter a bicyclist or two or three riding three abreast illegally. Or not paying attention. Or weaving...
* Bicyclists riding on Sheridan Road northbound through Highwood/Lake Forest - ummm, there's a bicycle trail 10 feet to the east. Paved, hugely wide, striped...
* Bicyclists that go through stop signs... So many locations that I've lost count.
David Greenberg
10:54 pm on Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Whatever the City comes up with needs to take into account common sense restrictions on using a bicycle on certain roadways that are extremely close to a dedicated trail, narrow, or otherwise "traffic challenged".
And we need vigorous enforcement to go along with that.
* Pedestrians need to cross at crosswalks - not blip out in between vehicles right into the path of traffic. They need to cross when they have the light - not whenever they feel like it (*cough* Green Bay Road and Central when vehicles have the left turn green light *cough*).
Molly
6:34 am on Thursday, September 27, 2012
I wish the author would explain what specifically this policy will require rather than proclaim the easy passage thru council or the nirvana it will create at some point in the future.
Kim Stone
3:16 pm on Friday, September 28, 2012
Molly,
My previous post gives some examples of what the Policy includes. The full policy is not yet on the City's website, but you can get a copy from the HP Department of Community Development. http://highlandpark.patch.com/blog_posts/making-highland-park-roads-safer-for-all-users
Michael
5:44 am on Friday, September 28, 2012
we have sidewalks in highland park and the law state that pedestrians must be on sidewalks, not walking in the streets if there are sidewalks available. Despite that, pedestrians blithely stroll in the streets, even in the early morning or evening when it is difficult to see them. Pedestrians following the law would be one way to make the roadways safer
Lou
6:56 am on Friday, September 28, 2012
I agree with David, we need vigorous enforcement to combat the extreme entitlement bicyclists possess. "Persons riding 2 abreast shall not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic..." is Illinois law, BUT, not apparently in Highland Park because impeding normal traffic is ubiquitous and I've never seen a bicyclist stopped for any traffic violation. Furthermore, bicyclists routinely run thru stop signs in Highland Park not caring about pedestrians of any age. But when those same assaulted pedestrians get in their own cars and now compete with bikers for street space, bicyclists demand 100% legal behavior from those they just disrespected! Since Illinois law fully covers bicycle regulations, it's time bicyclists expect a ticket for breaking the same law motorists are required to follow. To refresh their own sense of morality, bicyclists should carefully re-read the statute pertaining to their two-wheeled toy, and finally, one thought: Motorists like everyone else have memories. If a motorist sits on a jury trial where a bicyclist's back was broken or suffered a fatal crash, one would expect total fairness from that juror. But since bicyclists clearly and routinely break almost all of the traffic laws, I believe jurors could be influenced by this observation: bicyclists BLATANTLY disregard others' well being almost every time they drive their bikes, would they expect a juror to erase all of the frustration and anger created over the years?
Kim Stone
12:21 pm on Sunday, September 30, 2012
Education is a key component of the plan -- for cyclists as well as pedestrians and drivers.