Drivers who use Freemont, Grantley, and Columbia avenues as shortcuts off York Street during afternoon rush could soon face no-left-turn signs if a proposal from two Ward 3 aldermen advances through committee review.

The Elmhurst City Council voted Monday, July 20, to refer the cut-through traffic problem to committee for further study. The referral, proposed by Aldermen Michael Bram and Chris Jensen, targets a residential neighborhood bounded by North Avenue, York Street, Interstate 290, and Emroy Avenue.

York Street is Elmhurst's primary north-south commercial spine. When southbound traffic backs up at the York and North Avenue intersection during the afternoon rush, drivers cut east through the neighborhood to reach North Avenue, according to the aldermen's memo to the council. The detour routes them past homes on streets that also serve as access points for York Street businesses.

What the proposal would do

Bram and Jensen proposed posting no-left-turn signs on Freemont, Grantley, and Columbia avenues from 3 to 6 p.m. They also requested signs on Willow Road and Kenilworth Avenue prohibiting left turns onto North Avenue during the same hours.

The aldermen wrote in their memo that neighbors have seen vehicles "creeping into and moving partially into the street to improve their line of sight and blocking North Ave traffic," causing problems for residents trying to reach their homes and driveways. The city previously reduced truck traffic on the same routes by posting "No truck" signs, the aldermen noted.

Prior engagement

The city had already been talking to residents on those blocks. City Manager James Grabowski announced neighborhood roll calls for Fremont/Highview on Tuesday, June 2, and Grantley/Willow on Thursday, June 4, at the Monday, June 1, council meeting.

Bram has a track record on neighborhood traffic issues. At that same June 1 meeting, he pulled a neighborhood traffic study from the consent agenda to raise questions about Lake Street frontage and proposed modifications.

What happens next

Under Elmhurst's referral process, the council votes to send an issue to committee without debate. Traffic control signs fall under the jurisdiction of the Public Affairs and Safety Committee, according to the city's committee structure document. That three-member panel will deliberate and send a recommendation back to the full council for a final vote.

Committee meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. No specific hearing date for this referral has been posted.