Voting in favor of the proposal from the village staff to open one exit …
Village President Arlene Mulder
Trustee Carol Blackwood
Trustee Norman Breyer
Trustee Thomas Hayes
Trustee John Scaletta
Trustee Mike Sidor

Opposed to the opening were …
Trustee Thomas Glasgow
Trustee Bert Rosenberg
Trustee Joseph Farwell, who was most active in opposing the opening, and lives in the area affected by the traffic changes — just north of the hospital.

Currently the only exits from the Northwest Community Hospital campus are located on Central Road. Entrances exist at those south exits and at the northwest corner and the northeast corner of the campus aligned with Ridge Avenue.

The exits on the north side are problematic because they are angled intersections and they facilitate dumping of traffic onto northbound Ridge Avenue. Neighbors north of Kirchhoff Road area concerned about the risk of increased crashes along Kirchhoff Road and increase traffic hazards to children at Pioneer Park, Westgate School, Our Lady of Wayside School, and on side streets in the area.

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Green arrow at the location of the opening exit to Kirchhoff Road at the northwest side of the Northwest Community Hospital campus.

The Monday, April 30th Committee of the Whole meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and the first item discussed will be a subject unrelated to the Hospital’s request. Discussion by the Village Board regarding the re-opening of exits onto Kirchoff from the Hospital’s campus will resume at approximately 8 p.m. in the Board Room, located on the third floor of Village Hall, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road.

If anyone wishes to make further comment to be shared with the Village Board, please email administration@vah.com , call 847-368-5100, or send a letter to the Village Board and address it the Manager’s Office, Village of Arlington Heights, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005.

Two exit points from the Hospital’s campus onto Kirchoff Road were closed as part of the 2001 approval of the Hospital’s 5-year Master Plan, which was extended in 2006. Currently, the access points are restricted to inbound traffic only, except for emergency vehicles. The Village imposed the condition to close these two exits because of the anticipated adverse impact on traffic generated from additions made to the Hospital’s campus.

SOURCE:
VAH.COM No Public Participation at April 30 Meeting on Hospital’s Request to Reopen Exits

Residents north of the hospital oppose the exits onto Kirchhoff Road because of congestion along Kirchhoff Road, and safety issues created by cut-through traffic, especially along northbound Ridge Avenue. Angle crossing at Kirchhoff Road can be difficult because of the southeast/northwest orientation of Kirchhoff Road compared to the north/south orientation of Ridge Avenue.

A special meeting on Northwest Community Hospital’s exits is scheduled for April 30, 2012.

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Most motorists agree that it is not convenient to turn in to Mariano’s Fresh Market, CD One Price Cleaners, or Walgreens in the 800 to 900 block of East Northwest Highway if the direction of travel is eastbound Northwest Highway.

A driveway at Mariano’s posts ‘No Left Turn’ for eastbound motorists on Northwest Highway.

A ‘Do Not Enter’ sign directed at eastbound motorists is also posted for two lanes that exit Mariano’s Fresh Market — one exit to eastbound Northwest Highway and one to westbound Northwest Highway.

The Mariano’s driveway curbing on Northwest Highway is configured for drivers to enter from westbound Northwest Highway, and is designed presumably to discourage eastbound motorists on Northwest Highway from turning left into Mariano’s.

A driveway at CD One Price/Walgreens posts a ‘Do Not Enter’ sign directed at eastbound motorists on Northwest Highway. There is no sign prohibiting a left turn, but the curbing is also configured presumably to discourage eastbound motorists on Northwest Highway from turning left into CD Price One Cleaners and Walgreens.

In 60 minutes, about 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thursday, well over ten drivers ignored the the signs posted at these driveways, and made left turns anyway. Twelve of the motorists are shown on the video above. Some drove obviously the wrong way through the right turn lanes and others made sharp left-turns or almost a U-turn to enter into the entrance designed for westbound Northwest Highway motorists. Most of the left turns occurred at the CD Price One Cleaners/Walgreens driveway.

Many of the drivers that turned into the CD One Price Cleaners/Walgreens driveway backtracked to Mariano’s Fresh Market through an alley between Walgreen’s and CD Price One.

Most of the drivers were women. Several men noticed the camera and aborted their left turn.

For driver’s traveling eastbound on Northwest Highway with local experience, they will probably learn it is best to keep it legal and turn at eastbound Kensington to enter Mariano’s Fresh Market parking lot from the north side.

Meanwhile, pedestrians on the sidewalk, drivers that are legally exiting driveways on Northwest Highway, motorists that are westbound on Northwest Highway that find the illegal left-turners unexpectedly encroaching their lanes, and eastbound Northwest Highway motorists that get backed up to wait for the illegal left turns will have to take extra precautions in the area to prevent accidents. Or perhaps there is a new traffic design idea forthcoming for the area.

In a map ‘speech balloon’ or ‘speech bubble’ the listing correctly published the geographic address and telephone number for the Buffalo Grove Police Department, but incorrectly published the website listing (CORRECT vbg.org INCORRECT bbg.org) …

Buffalo Grove Police Department
46 Raupp Boulevard
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-2199
(847) 459-2560
bbg.org

The correction was submitted to Google on April 28, 2010. Corrections are verified by Google and usually take two or three weeks to take effect. Readers are advised that if they read this article weeks from the published date, the problem is expected to be eliminated from this example.

The ‘Report a Problem’ link is located in the lower right on Google Maps.

The problem was discovered while building the following web page …
StreetsofChicagoland.com/police

Not all cities, towns, and villages have been checked for accuracy. Government officials from each location are encouraged to check their listing in Google and Google maps. Buffalo Grove was the first inaccuracy discovered.

The inaccuracy for the Village of Buffalo Grove was also published in a Google web search for Buffalo Grove Police Department …
On April 28, 2010 the listing for Buffalo Grove Police Department … also incorrectly showed bbg.org as the website for the Village of Buffalo Grove. Incidently on April 28, 2010, the url bbg.org points to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Exact notice to Google via ‘Report a problem’:
The correct listing for Village of Buffalo Grove official website is vbg.org. On 4/28/2010 the listing correctly published the geographic address and telephone number for the Buffalo Grove Police Department, but incorrectly published the website listing (CORRECT vbg.org INCORRECT bbg.org) …

46 Raupp Boulevard
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-2199
(847) 459-2560
bbg.org

The problem was discovered when a user searched ‘police department’ in Google Maps. The problem also occurs in the top listing of a Google Web Search.

The problem was successfully submitted on April 28, 2010 at 8:38 UTC

Check it here before Google makes the fix …
Location of Rawhide Steak House as viewed on January 25, 2010 …

The problem was reported to Google Maps.

Dangerous roadway situation at Dundee Road and the entrance to Prairie Middle School in Barrington, Illinois Monday morning: The eastbound traffic lights on Dundee Road simultaneously showed a red light and green light and green arrow. the highway speed in the area is 45 mph.

The situation was reported via 9-1-1, and the situation was reported to the Prairie Middle School front office via their main telephone number. The 9-1-1 operator replied that IDOT would be notified.

What’s So Dangerous About this Condition?
Here are at least two scenarios that could be caused by the malfunctioning traffic lights.

(1) Eastbound driver’s eyes are fixed on the overhead traffic lights showing green, but then glances to the shoulder traffic light showing red. The driver reacts by slamming on the vehicle brakes to avoid going through a red light, and slides or skids into cars in the left lane, or the driver is rear-ended by a vehicle whose driver is obeying the overhead lights showing green.

(2) A pedestrian on the south shoulder of Dundee Road fixes their eyes on the traffic light at the shoulder showing a red light for eastbound traffic. The pedestrian crosses Dundee Road to go to the north side of the street and is struck by an eastbound car with the driver obeying the overhead lights showing green.

Report submitted to Google ‘Report a problem’ for Village Cycle Sport location which is incorrectly shown on Rand Road near Route 53 on the south side of Rand Road. The establishment was noted for re-positioning to Rand Road about 400 feet east of Thomas on the north side of Rand Road. Incorrect position shown near Woods Drive and Rand Road [MAP]

Report submitted to Google ‘Report a problem’ for Nikko’s location which is incorrectly shown on Rand Road near Route 53 on the south side of Rand Road. The establishment was noted for re-positioning to Rand Road about 400 feet east of Thomas on the north side of Rand Road. Incorrect position shown near Woods Drive and Rand Road [MAP]

Report submitted to Google ‘Report a problem’ for Room 4 Kiz & Teenz location which is incorrectly shown on Rand Road near Route 53 on the south side of Rand Road. The establishment was noted for re-positioning to Rand Road about 400 feet east of Thomas on the north side of Rand Road. Incorrect position shown near Woods Drive and Rand Road [MAP]

The Report a Problem link is located in the lower right on Google Maps.

The Daily Herald is reporting that several cars that have traveled on Northwest Highway in the construction zone from Vail Avenue in Arlington Heights to approximately Hicks Road in Palatine have been stuck with a brown film or brown muck. One driver claims she had to have her car specially cleaned for $119 after staff at Northwest Car Wash, 900 West Euclid Avenue, told her that running the car through the car wash 10 times wouldn’t remove the material from the car.

Road work at the construction zone began about July 13, 2009 and is expected to be finished early November 2009.

People who believe their vehicle has been damaged by a road condition in state jurisdiction in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, may file a claim with IDOT by calling (847) 705-4401.

More …
Daily Herald: Arlington, Palatine roadwork leaves brown muck on cars

Arlington Heights police received a report about 2:10 p.m. that the street collapsed near the curb of the northwest corner of Park Street and Dryden Avenue. In fact an SUV collapsed the street, but was able to get out on its own. Neighbors said they noticed the street sagging about one week ago.

Arlington Heights Public Works Department quickly barricaded off the area.

A hole to be avoided, especially by a bicycle at night, at Dryden Avenue and Park Street.

Hampton, Lenzini and Renwick, Inc. (HLR), was hired in 2008 by the Village to evaluate traffic issues in the vicinity of Northwest Community Hospital, and will give an overview of traffic data collected and seek public input at the August 12 session.

The traffic study was created in response to residents’ concerns about how neighborhood traffic would be impacted by a new 245,000 square-foot Patient Care addition to the Hospital. The new 200-patient room addition is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2010.

The traffic study follows the efforts of the 13-member Ad Hoc Committee which included residents living in the immediate vicinity of the Hospital, a Hospital representative, Trustee Norman Breyer and three Village Staff members. Former Trustee Mark Toljanic served as Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee.

If you have any questions regarding the meeting, please call Jim Massarelli, Director of Engineering or Mike Pagones, Deputy Director of Engineering, at 847-368-5250. You can also email your questions to jmassarelli@vah.com.

View Roadway Design in a larger map

Work will be performed Monday through Friday and some Saturdays.

Wilke Road thoroughfare and access [MAP/SAT] is interrupted by Rand Road (Route 12). Instead of a full intersection, southern access to Wilke Road is designed in an eastern intersection with Rand Road and northern access to Wilke Road is designed in a western intersection with Rand Road.

PROBLEMS:
Southern access to Wilke is available by the eastern T-intersection. Rand Road is a busy four-lane highway with congestion that makes it very difficult to make a sharp left turn from northbound Wilke Road to northwestbound Rand Road (Route 12).

Northern access to Wilke Road is available by a western intersection that is a 4-way intersection that includes a northbound exit of Route 53 to Rand Road, eastbound and westbound Rand Road, and northbound access to Wilke Road; but no southbound access to Wilke Road because of alignment with the one-way northbound exit from Route 53. The western intersection is a stoplight intersection and exists about 200 feet west of the intersection of Wilke Road and Rand Road for southern access to Wilke Road.

Confusion can exist to drivers because there are three Wilke Road accesses to Rand Road. The resulting confusion can cause drivers to be lost and distracted. The city of Palatine has a Wilke Road (also known as Frontage Road) on the west side parallel to Route 53 (another far western intersection). Then, Arlington Heights, east of Route 53,  has the two accesses to Wilke Road — the northern portion (western intersection) and the southern portion (eastern intersection).

NEW DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:
New construction of a northbound Wilke access road that merges with the northbound Rand Road exit ramp from Route 53. Name that road North Wilke Frontage (for example). New construction for the Route 53 exit ramp may be necessary, since the exit ramp from Route 53 may have to initiate from a more southern location to attenuate higher speeds from the expressway exit in time for slower speeds for the merge with the newly proposed north Wilke access. The proposed new northbound “North Wilke Frontage” would have a restrictive design so that drivers could not reasonably turn left and go the wrong way on the off ramp exit from northbound Route 53.

Provide a right turn lane for southbound Wilke to the proposed northbound Wilke access for drivers from Woods or Walter E. Smithe Parking lot that intend to travel northwest on Rand Road.

Provide a stop sign for northbound Wilke where drivers would choose to travel straight to merge with the off ramp lane from northbound Route 53 or turn right to travel to the Walter E. Smithe parking lot or Woods Drive or eventually turn right only at Rand Road.

Provide proper signs that warn northbound Route 53 exit ramp drivers that traffic merges from the right from northbound Wilke.

Prohibit a left turn (NO LEFT TURN sign) from northbound Wilke to northwestbound Rand Road from the existing intersection with southern portion of Wilke Road.

Provide signs at southbound Wilke (northern portion) and Rand road that inform drivers to turn left to access southbound Wilke Road.

Provide matching signs on southeastbound Rand Road to inform drivers to turn right from Rand Road at southbound Wilke Road (southern portion).

Coordinate the renaming of the two “Wilke Roads” (e.g., “Wilke-Arlington” & “Wilke-Palatine”) for the respective towns of Arlington Heights and Palatine so that map readers and drivers are not confused by the naming of two Wilke Roads so close together.

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The right shoulder (southeast corner of Rand and Waterman) is in poor condition. Drivers at this side of Rand Road on Waterman are at a disadvantage compared to drivers on Waterman on the north side of Rand Road.

Drivers at Rand and Waterman face a difficult turn from northbound Waterman to southeastbound Rand Road. Rand Road is often heavily congested, so driver’s trying to enter Rand Road often become impatient. Southbound Waterman drivers have a nice broad shoulder to turn right to northwestbound Rand Road, but left turn Waterman drivers often become impatient to go southeastbound on Rand Road. Northbound Waterman drivers have a more difficult time with traction because of the poor right shoulder, which is rutted and eroded. Southbound Waterman drivers can become frustrated with the extra time and care required by the northbound Waterman drivers.

Also northwestbound drivers on Rand Road road often cut the corner on a left turn to southbound Waterman — often coming south in the oncoming northbound lane of Waterman.

Recommendation: The southeast right-turn shoulder at Rand Road and Waterman should be made broad and paved so that drivers can start with a better turning angle and avoid eroded ruts that develop on the existing soft shoulder. The drivers will also then have better clearance to be out of the way of left turn drivers from northwestbound Rand Road to southbound Waterman.

Note: The intersection nearby at Rand and Camp McDonald may someday become a full intersection with Oakton reaching straight east to meet Camp McDonald at Rand Road.

In Chicago, some say that we really only have two seasons: winter and road construction. Well, it can be bad … and some summers we wonder how the planners manage to work on several parallel roadways at the same time! Check this section for any information that might help the construction season.

Comprehensive Chicago traffic map with web cam links, road detector links:
Arlington-cars.com/traffic

Northeast corner pavement markings facing the Dryden entrance/exit.

Drivers headed to the drive thru at Walgreens are directed to drive on the wrong side of the lane in the parking lot on the northeast side of Walgreens. This will cause confusion to these drivers and expose them to the risk of collisions with cars entering the entrance from Dryden, who would expect to travel south on the right side of the lane pictured (entrance drivers would be traveling from left to right in the picture). The lane in the parking lot does not follow the U.S. standard of driving on the right side of the road. Note also that if a drive-thru-bound car (drives from right to left in the picture) was passing north above the pavement markings, it would be impossible for a driver entering at the entrance to see the reversal of the lane directions. This could cause the driver entering the lot to think that the drive-thru-bound driver was on the wrong side of the lane and become angry with that driver. The confusion could also cause delays that could increase the chance of traffic congestion back-ups from the entrance in to Dryden Place. The back-ups could increase the chance of rear-end or other type of collisions near Dryden Place and the Walgreens entrance.

RECOMMENDATION: Move the northbound left turn DRIVE THRU pavement markings to the right side of the lane. Delete the old pavement markings. Add a centerline pavement marking to the lane in the parking lot parallel to the east wall of the Walgreens building. Place a STOP SIGN or a YIELD sign directing the northbound drive-thru-bound or Walgreens exit traffic to give priority to the entering traffic from the entrance off of busy Dryden Place.

The new Portillo’s Restaurant at 806 West Dundee in Arlington Heights is a fantastic restaurant which appears to run with extreme efficiency and attention to detail. However, there is one detail that seems to have slipped by owners and village personnel. At the exit to the drive-thru there are pavement markings and an exit sign that points drivers to the right. The problem is there is also a NO RIGHT TURN sign that is placed under a STOP SIGN at the same driveway exit.

Conflicting directions can confuse drivers and cause accidents with cars or pedestrians. Also, conflicting instructions can encourage drivers to disregard signs when there is an obvious failure to properly direct drivers.