Trustees got their first look Tuesday at a traffic study that recommends widening an S-curved intersection, an option residents believe could destroy the historic character of their neighborhood.
The study, conducted by consultant Jim Morton of Consoer-Townsend, recommends straightening the intersection of Haven Avenue and Cedar Road and widening the junction to four lanes. Homeowners fear the move could lessen the value of some of the village’s oldest homes and trees.
Copies of the study will be handed out next week to members of a citizens committee formed to study the traffic patterns at Haven and Cedar.
Morton said his study was designed to take capacity, safety and environmental issues into account.
According to the report, a population boom has more drivers turning onto Cedar, the village’s only north-south thoroughfare. Because the road curves, drivers find that the street is time-consuming and requires extra caution.
Traffic patterns aren’t easily changed, Morton said.
“Water seeks its own level. Traffic will go where it has to go,” he said.
If traffic moves too slowly at the intersection, drivers will start cutting through the residential streets, he said.
But Trustee Dave Baton noted that enlarging the intersection won’t erase one of the major causes of traffic delay: trains blocking street-level tracks.
Trustee Annette Bowden said the upcoming extension of Nelson Road on the west side of the village should take some traffic off Cedar. Nelson Road will be more convenient for many residents, Bowden said.
Residents have made it “very clear” they prefer moving north-south traffic to the west instead of rebuilding the Haven-Cedar intersection, said Trustee Mike Hrad. Reconfiguring the intersection is only an option that has yet to gain board approval, and its $4.2 million price tag is not in the village budget, Mayor John Nowakowski said.
If the plan is adopted, it would be submitted for federal funding, the mayor said. The village would have to pay between 30 and 50 percent of the cost, he said.
