CITY COUNCIL March 18, 2015
ORDERED, That the Commissioner of Transportation is hereby authorized and directed
1) At N. Kimball Ave. (east side) from W. Waveland Avenue to W. Newport Ave.; Repeal the following ordinance which reads: No Parking Tow Zone, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Monday thru Friday.
2) At N. Kimball Ave. (west side) from W. Waveland Avenue to W. Addison Street; No Parking Tow Zone, 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Monday thru Friday.
Ramos, Martha
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject: Attachments:
Brian Roberts > Friday, February 27, 2015 2:56 PM
Ramos, Martha
Colon, Rey; Samadi, Malihe
RE: Kimball & Waveland - CDOT assessment
Kimball & Waveland letter (Or2014-434).pdf
Alderman Colon/Martha,
In order to proceed with the recommendations contained in the attached traffic study letter for Kimball & Waveland, you'll need to introduce the following ordinance language to City Council:
N. Kimball Ave. (east side) from W. Waveland Ave. to W. Newport Ave.; BSESSl the following ordinance which reads: No Parking Tow Zone, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Monday thru Friday
N. Kimball Ave. (west side) from W. Waveland Ave. to W. Addison St.; No Parking Tow Zone, 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Monday , thru Friday
Let me know If you need anything else.
Thanks, Brian
Brian J. Roberts, P.E., PTOE
CDOT Consultant Transportation Engineer
Chicago Department of Transportation Division of Project Development
30 N. LaSalle Street, 5th Floor-
Chicago, IL 60602 312.744.6667 direct (CDOT) Sam Schwartz Engineering D.P.C. broberts@samschwartz.com
From: Ramos, Martha [Martha.Ramos@cityofchicago.org ] Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2015 3:40 PM To: Brian Roberts Cc: Colon, Rey
Subject: RE: Kimball & Waveland - CDOT assessment
Good Day Brian,
Thank you for clarifying. There is the project for Elston/Grace. I got them confused.
Please move forward on the Kimball/Waveland recommendation. Alderman Colon approved.
Shine Bright Like A Diamond
Respectfully,
Chicago Department of Transportation city of chicago
January 27,2015
The Honorable Rey Col6n Alderman, 35th Ward 2710 N. Sawyer Ave Chicago, IL 60647
RE: Traffic study for the intersection of Kimball Avenue and Waveland Avenue Dear Alderman Col6n:
The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) has received a notification that your office has introduced an ordinance (Or2014-434) to install stop signs on Kimball Avenue at Waveland Avenue due to general safety concerns. Based on follow-up conversations with your staff, CDOT understands that you are seeking any alternative to stop signs which will reduce crashes. This intersection and much of the Kimball corridor serves as a border between the 35th and the 33rd Wards, so Alderman Mell has been copied on this letter.
Existing Conditions
Kimball Avenue is a 40-foot-wide collector roadway carrying approximately 15,000 vehicles per day, although at major signalized intersections, Kimball widens to provide left-turn lanes. Waveland Avenue is a 30-foot-wide two-way local road with stop signs at Kimball Avenue. On-street parking is allowed at all times along the west side of Kimball Avenue. Parking on the east side, however, is restricted from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM between Lawrence Avenue and the Kennedy Expressway. CTA Route 82 (Kimball-Homan) operates along Kimball Avenue with stops at the signalized intersections 330 feet to the north at Elston Avenue and 660 feet lo the south at Addison Street, but does not stop at Waveland Avenue.( Figure 1 on the next page shows a study area map lor your reference.
CDOT reviewed the crash history at the intersection of Kimball and Waveland between 2011 and 2013, the results of which are shown in Table 1 on the next page. As shown in Table 1, there were 38 intersection-related crashes reported during the three-year period, 28 of which were right-angle crashes involving a vehicle on Kimball and a vehicle on Waveland. By far the most common form of angle crash was between northbound and eastbound vehicles, accounting for 17 of the 28 (61%) angle crashes occurring in the three-year period. It should be noted that there were 0 pedestrian crashes reported during the three-year time period and only 2 of the 38 total crashes involved an injury. Furthermore, 17 of the 38 crashes (45%) occurred between 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM.
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30 NORTH LASALLE STREET. SUITU 1100. CHrCAfiO, ILLINOIS Rn«02
Table 1: 2011-2013 crash history for the intersection of Kimball & Waveland
muz $20'i'3si
Angle ii|99 9|28
northbound + eastbound|9999|17
northbound + westbound j|99|/|99|
southbound + eastbound i I|999|
southbound + westbound|99 9|/|99|
Bicyclist|99 9 9|I
Pedestrian|9 9 9 9 9|
Rear End|99 999|
Sideswipe|9 99 99|
Turning|9 99 99|
mm mm
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Page 3 - Traffic study at the intersection of Kimball Avenue & Waveland Avenue
Analysis
At four-legged intersections where only one of the streets is stop-controlled—such as Kimball and Waveland—most angle crashes are caused by one of three factors: poor sight lines, lack of adequate gaps in traffic, and/or unusually high travel speeds. CDOT conducted a site investigation during a recent weekday evening to determine the cause of not only the spike in evening peak hour crashes, but also the noticeable pattern of angle crashes between northbound and eastbound vehicles.
Parking is allowed on the west side of Kimball at all times. During the evening peak hours, traffic on southbound Kimball Avenue often queues from the traffic signal at Addison Street through Waveland Avenue. When this occurs, drivers on eastbound Waveland who want to turn left or go straight either wait for southbound traffic to clear or enter the intersection through an opening in stopped southbound traffic; based on CDOT observations, more drivers choose the former than the latter. If an eastbound driver does choose to enter the intersection, their sight lines are significantly worse than when there is no southbound queuing. A comparison between these two scenarios is shown below on Figure 2.
Figure 2: Sight line comparison
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Scenario B - southbound queuing present
As shown on Figure 2, sight distance is significantly greater when there is no southbound queuing versus when there is southbound queuing. The greater sight distance allows eastbound drivers to better judge gaps in traffic and it also provides northbound drivers more time to react to an unexpected vehicle entering the intersection.
Recommendation 1 - angle crash countermeasures at Kimball & Waveland As mentionedvpreviously, a majority of the angle crashes at Kimball and Waveland are attributable to the queuing in the southbound direction from Addison Street, particularly during the evening peak hours. While peak hour parking restrictions (PHPR) on a 40-foot-, wide street generally do not provide enough width to enable a second full-time travel lane, they do, however, allow for side-by-side queuing at a signalized intersection such as Kimball and Addison. Therefore, CDOT recommends installing PHPR on the west side of Kimball
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Page 4 - Traffic study at the intersection of Kimball Avenue & Waveland Avenue
Avenue between Waveland Avenue and Addison Street during the evening peak hours. Restricting parking during this time period will allow southbound traffic to queue in two lanes at Addison, thus eliminating the southbound queue near Waveland which in turn will provide adequate sight lines between eastbound and northbound drivers at Waveland. Due to the distribution of volumes at this particular location, CDOT recommends restricting parking from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM as opposed to the typical 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM restriction. If this is something your office would like to pursue, please introduce the following ordinance to City Council:
¦ Kimball Avenue (west side): from Waveland Avenue to Addison Street; 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Monday thru Friday, No Parking - Tow Zone.
Once this ordinance passes City Council, CDOT will install the appropriate signs. This parking change, in addition to the subsequent recommendations, is shown on Figure 3.
Recommendation 2 - feasibility ofstop signs at Kimball & Waveland Installation of stop signs is generally not recommended on a major roadway like Kimball Avenue because they increase rear-end crashes, produce unnecessary traffic queues, create a false sense of security for pedestrians that every vehicle will stop, increase fuel consumption, and limit traffic progression in a coordinated signal system. In this case in particular, CDOT has concerns that stop signs on Kimball would cause southbound traffic to queue from Waveland Avenue into the Elston Avenue intersection given its close proximity. Additionally, stop compliance is generally poorer at intersections close to traffic signals since drivers—northbound in this case—have a clear view of the signal equipment and may pay more attention to a green signal ahead than to a stop sign.
The parking recommendation listed previously—if implemented—should reduce the likelihood of angle crashes at the intersection of Kimball and Waveland. All-way stops are generally reserved for intersections with approximately equal traffic volumes, which is not the case at Kimball and Waveland. Therefore, CDOT recommends against installing stop signs on Kimball Avenue at Waveland Avenue.
Recommendation 3 - peak hour parking restrictions along Kimball Avenue corridor A. General overview '
Even though CDOT is recommending the installation of PHPR on the Addison-to- Waveland block to reduce southbound queuing and improve sight lines at Kimball and Waveland, PHPR are generally not recommended on corridors that do not have the traffic volumes to necessitate a second full-time travel lane and that do not have the width to actually provide the additional full-time travel lane. On streets not meeting both of these criteria, PHPR are unnecessary and lead to the following consequences:
Increased travel speeds
•' Less availability of on-street parking for businesses and residents
Preclusion of the feasibility of bicycle facilities
Preclusion of in-street State Law - Stop For Pedestrian signs
Creates the potential for a multiple-threat pedestrian crash: a vehicle in the main travel lane stops for a pedestrian in a crosswalk but blocks visibility of the pedestrian to a driver using the outer lane
Creates the potential for sideswipe crashes
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Page 5 - Traffic study at the intersection of Kimball Avenue & Waveland Avenue 13. Existing conditions
CDOT conducted a traffic count during the evening peak hour and found that northbound and southbound traffic volumes on Kimball Avenue were fairly equal, with each direction carrying approximately 500 vehicles per hour. It should be noted that the typical threshold for necessitating two travel lanes in each direction is between 600 and 800 vehicles per hour depending on the street network. It should also be noted that streets under 44 feet in width do not typically operate as four-lane roadways due to the narrow and constrained conditions, regardless of the presence of .parking restrictions.
Recommendations
Kimball Avenue does not carry the minimum hourly volumes to require on-street parking restrictions during the peak hours nor does it have the width to sufficiently provide two full-time travel lanes. Therefore, CDOT suggests eliminating the PHPR on Kimball Avenue between Lawrence Avenue and Newport Avenue to address the concerns outlined in Section 3A.
CDOT typically recommends restricting parking near major signalized intersections to allow drivers making right turns to separate themselves from the through traffic lane, thus yielding better traffic operations. Along the Kimball corridor, however, parking is already restricted in the northbound direction due to the existing near-side bus stops, driveways, and alleys in advance of the traffic signals at Addison Street, Elston Avenue, Irving Park Road, Montrose Avenue, and Lawrence Avenue. If any of the near-side bus- stops—all located on the southeast corners of the aforementioned signalized intersections—are ever relocated to far-side, additional on-street parking restrictions may be needed to maintain satisfactory traffic operations.
Implementation
In the 2015 ward map, Kimball Avenue is solely in the 33rd Ward north of Sunnyside Avenue, is a border between the 35lh and 33"1 Wards between Sunnyside and Elston Avenue (east side is in the 33rd Ward),' and is solely the 35,h Ward south of Elston. Therefore, CDOT recommends repealing the existing PHPR ordinance on file for the east side of Kimball Avenue between Waveland Avenue and Newport Avenue. CDOT also recommends that the 33rt Ward repeal the existing PHPR ordinance on file for Kimball Avenue between Elston Avenue and Lawrence Avenue. The Department ol' Finance should be contacted prior to repealing the existing PHPR ordinance for the segment near Lawrence since parking is metered at that location.
Kimball & Grace
The intersection of Kimball and Grace is currently all-way stop-controlled. Much like at the intersection of Kimball and Waveland, stop signs are not warranted on Kimball at Grace. Traffic on northbound Kimball at Grace currently backs up close to Elston, but due to the existing PHPR on the east side of Kimball, northbound traffic currently queues in two lanes if v necessary. In order to preven^backups into Elston in the northbound direction resulting from the PHPR removal in Section 3C, CDOT recommends removing the stop signs on Kimball at Grace. If the PHPR were repealed between Grace and Elston without removing the stop signs on Kimball at Grace, northbound traffic would likely back into Elston. Converting this intersection from an all-way stop intersection to a two-way stop intersection can also be accomplished by ordinance, and it is recommended that the ward office that repeals the
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Page 6 - Truffic study at the intersection of Kimball Avenue & Waveland Avenue
PHPR north of Clston also simultaneously introduce the appropriate ordinance amendment to modify the stop control at Kimball and Grace.
A side-by-side, comparison depicting the aforementioned parking and stop sign recommendations is shown below on Figure 3,
Figure 3: Recommendations
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^ 4:00 PM £6:00 PM
®& 5!»PM1»T:00PM|10 10|
Study Area Map Existing Conditions
Study Area Map Proposed Conditions
Please contact me at (312) 744-1987 if you have any additionnl questions or concerns. Sincerely,
f^i^ f^cu^PO
Luann Hamilton, Deputy Commissioner Division of Project Development
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CC: Deborah Mell - Alderman, 33rJ Ward T, Stevens - Department of Finance M. Samadi, R. DeCorvo, B. Roberts - CDOT
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