IDOT

As you know, the citizens of South Pointe Subdivision located in Naperville, IL., and the surrounding communities have a grave concern for the safety of the intersection located at Route 59 & Champion. Given the size, traffic volume, and speed at which cars travel through this intersection, we feel strongly that a traffic signal should be warranted at this location. As a result, we are petitioning IDOT to reconsider installing a traffic signal at this location based on the points made in the analysis below, and the large number of petitioners who have elected to be part of this petition.

In the past few years, IDOT has conducted several studies at this intersection to determine if a traffic light is warranted, and in each of these studies the intersection fails the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Warrant 1 Condition A & B because of insufficient traffic volumes on Champion Drive. We respect the results of these studies, but feel that if IDOT had more information about this intersection from a community perspective, they may question if their traffic study results are accurate.

First, we would like to address the right turn reduction formula being used in these studies that significantly reduces the traffic volume on Champion. In both the 2010 and 2014 signal studies, IDOT reduced the total right turns on Champion by 60% according to the condition formula (R>3T) in the Pagones Theorem table, where a minor street would have an exclusive left, and shared through/right approach. Based on the traffic volume counts on Champion including left turns, right turns, and through traffic, it is clear that the number of right turns was greater than 3 times the “through” traffic, and that is why the 60% reduction in right turns was applied, but if the intersection was deemed safer to cross by the community, the “through” traffic volume on Champion would be significantly higher. This is important because if the “through” traffic were higher on Champion, the right turn reduction percentage to be applied would decrease, and the total traffic volume on Champion would increase.

We can say with a high degree of certainty that the “through” traffic would be higher on Champion if the intersection were deemed safer because South Pointe children are required to attend Freedom Elementary school, located in the Champion Creek subdivision (neighborhood directly west of South Pointe). To help validate this point, we would like to make you aware of the school bus routes traveling to Freedom Elementary from the South Pointe subdivision. The school district has determined that it is too hazardous to allow school buses to cross through or take a left turn on Route 59 from Champion Drive. The elementary school bus is required to take an alternate 3.0 mile route that includes the bus taking a right turn (heading North) on Route 59 from Champion (see route highlighted in red below), instead of a more direct ¼ mile route that would allow the bus to travel directly through Route 59 (see route highlighted in yellow below). The Freedom Elementary buses are also not allowed to turn left on Route 59, so the shorter alternate route (see route in red dashed below) is also not feasible. The bus pick up time is pushed earlier each year as the traffic on Route 59 increases, and it takes longer for the buses to complete the right turn onto Route 59, and a subsequent left turn onto 111th. The children at the first stop to be picked up in the morning sit on the bus for more than 30 minutes each day before arriving to school.

On an equally important note, both the middle school (Heritage Grove) and high school (Plainfield North) children from South Pointe are required to attend Plainfield schools, located south of 119th, and west of Route 59. Obviously, the logical routes for buses traveling to these destinations would be to take a left (heading south on 59) out of South Pointe, but these buses also take right turns (heading North 59) and circuitous routes to their destinations to avoid the danger of taking a left turn at this intersection. To verify these bus routes, and understand the school district’s concerns for Route 59 and Champion, please see attached letter from Ellen Theobald, Plainfield School District 202 Director of Transportation.1

Many residents of South Pointe also take right turns out of South Pointe to avoid the dangers of taking a left turn on Route 59 (Northbound), with the intention of doing a U-TURN at 111th to eventually head south. As this traffic maneuver is routinely performed, it significantly cuts down on left turns being made out of South Pointe, and that could potentially skew Champion total traffic counts downward during traffic signal control studies.

While Route 59 and Champion may never meet the traffic volume criteria to meet Warrant 1 Condition A, we believe the intersection does meet Warrant 1 Condition B. As you know, Warrant 1 Condition B is the “Interruption of Continuous Traffic” and is intended to evaluate an intersection where the traffic volume on a major street is so heavy that traffic on a minor intersecting street suffers excessive delay or conflict in entering or crossing the major street. This definition of Warrant 1 Condition B clearly defines the problem at Route 59 & Champion.

It appears from the 2010 traffic control signal study that the engineers took into consideration Condition B more closely by applying mainline congestion factors to adjust downward the right turn reduction percentage. In the recent 2014 control signal study, we did not observe any such adjustment. We also noticed that in the 2014 study, the surveyors documented the speed limit on Route 59 to be 40 mph, when in fact it is 45 mph. This appears to be a significant error because according to Condition B, when the speed limit exceeds 40 mph on the major-street, the 70% traffic volume numbers should be used to evaluate if an intersection warrants a light. If the 70% traffic volume numbers were used and the proper mainline congestion factors were applied to reduce right turn reductions, Route 59 and Champion would likely meet the criteria for Warrant 1 Condition B during several time periods throughout the day. We also would like to point out that the mainline congestion factors that were applied in the 2010 study did not seem correct based on