Evanston Review
May 23, 2002
BY BOB SEIDENBERG, CITY EDITOR
The city will turn to local legislators for help to persuade the Illinois
Department of Transportation to back off on a new traffic light plan for
Ridge Avenue that has sparked strong protest from residents in the area.
Alderman Steven J. Bernstein, whose 4th Ward includes much of the Ridge
Historic District, moved to hold over action on the issue at Monday night’s
City Council meeting.
Bernstein said he hopes his action will give local legislators more
time to convince IDOT to grant the city a waiver against installing the
larger double-mast traffic light system, as opposed to the current post-top
signals embraced by residents.
“I think we need time to let them work behind the scenes,” he said.
Aldermen backed the holdover move, but several expressed concern they
didn’t want to jeopardize the funding the city would receive on the mostly
federal funded $1.86 million project, citing the city’s budget woes.
Neighbors have also received backing on the project from U.S. Rep.
Jan Schakowsky, D-9th, whose house is located along Ridge Avenue.
“Jan wants to make sure we don’t lose federal funding but that we don’t
compromise the integrity of the historic district,” said Ra Joy, Schakowsky’s
suburban director, addressing council members Monday night.
IDOT official James Skvarla said the office hears waiver requests on
a “case-by-case” basis.
Residents argued that the state mandate for the larger lights is more
applicable to highways, not Ridge, a “very narrow street,” said Stephen
Patton, a resident and attorney, addressing the council Monday night.
Ridge Avenue is “no wider than a lot of two-lane streets with traffic
on either side,” Patton said.
The current lights, he said, are “very, very visible - you can’t miss
them.”
He charged that Public Works Director David Jennings had not informed
IDOT that the project would take place in a historic preservation district,
marking the information box on that point as “non-applicable.” IDOT officials
have termed the omission a “miscommuncation.”
In addition, he said the city gave a misleading impression as to the
level of community involvement, informing state officials in the application
that “informal meetings” had been held on the issue.
Jennings said Tuesday that officials had not listed historic district
as a matter of practice on a previous application for a signal project
in another area. He said the city will include such information in the
future.
He said the signal plan had been included among the projects in the
overall capital improvement plan, which the council discussed in at least
four public meetings.
Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, argued, that aldermen were “doing a
disservice to staff” and that aldermen knew they were voting on a brand
new signaling system, rather than repairs to the existing one, as some
have indicated.
The proposed plan offers “the best of both worlds,” she said, allowing
the city to put in a brand new, state-of-the-art traffic light system that
it could not have afforded if it had to pay itself.
Further, she argued that the new system would not detract from the
appearance of Ridge and would be synchronized, so as to move traffic better.
Alderman Arthur B. Newman, 1st, argued, though, that aldermen weren’t
in possession of all the information when they voted on the capital improvement
plan.
“I had no knowledge about the mast-arm (system). I don’t think any
council member who voted had knowledge of what’s going to be done.
“I just feel we made a mistake here and we ought to do what we can
to rectify it,” Newman said. |