Plans to widen the intersection of Kaneville Road and Illinois Highway 38 (State Street) in downtown Geneva have reached a dead end.
Before a crowd of about 150 residents who packed City Hall in protest of the plan, members of the Transportation Committee voted to recommend that the City Council reject the Illinois Department of Transportation project.
The $1.4 million proposal called for installing a traffic signal at the intersection and adding left-turn lanes to westbound State Street and northbound Kaneville. Several trianglar islands were proposed to eliminate left turns from Lincoln Avenue, which is just east of the intersection. For some homeowners, the project would have meant a loss of up to 17 feet of property.
The committee’s decision was met with applause from the residents, many of whom have been fighting the project since a May 12 meeting during which IDOT officials presented the preliminary plan. In addition to lobbying state and city officials, homeowners near the intersection put up signs on trees and stakes in their yards to show what would be lost if the intersection were widened.
“We’re very happy,” said resident Julie Brown, who lives on Lincoln Avenue. “We were pleasantly surprised the committee already had the same feelings as the general community, and we’re pleased that they are not going through with the expansion at this point.”
Committee members asked that the mayor write a letter to IDOT stating that the council does not support the plan as it stands, but would like to incorporate some of the plan’s safety features within a four-lane configuration.
“I am familiar with the route. I have driven it twice a day every day for 24 years,” said 1st Ward Ald. Charles Brown. “While I agree that there are safety issues, I don’t think we have to sacrifice the beauty of our town and become one more blip on a five-lane highway.”
Police Lt. Dave Burton, who supervises crossing guards at that intersection, said he was concerned for the safety of the 15 to 20 children who cross there twice a day to attend Coultrap School.
“What I am concerned about is getting those kids across,” he said. “I hope some of the safety features of the plan are not lost because of the negative aspects of it.”
Many of the residents offered other suggestions for improving the intersection, including prohibiting left turns onto State Street from Kaneville Road and increasing police presence.
Committee Chairman Ald. Tim Vetang, of the 5th Ward, said that IDOT officials have indicated they will not proceed without the city’s support. The full council is expected to vote on the committee’s recommendation on July 20.
