Homewood trustees voted unanimously Tuesday, Sept. 13, to authorize an application for an Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) grant that would help the village with costs of implementing a traffic diet plan on 183rd Street.
At the meeting, Public Works Director John Schaefer announced that there will be two open house sessions where village staff will present the results of a traffic diet test conducted in May from Morgan Street to Riegel Road, and finding to determine whether Gottschalk at 183rd Street will be closed.
The meetings will take place in the board room at village hall, 2020 Chestnut Road. The first meeting will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15. The second will be from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17.
Schaefer said the meetings will be an opportunity for residents to ask questions about the traffic diet test and the plan for permanent lane restructuring.
The May two-week test approximated the restructuring of traffic lanes on 183rd Street from the current four-lane street to two traffic lanes. The permanent lane restructuring would do the same, plus it would include two bike lanes and one center turn lane. The total width of the road will not change.
The latest plan calls for the redesign to affect 183rd Street from Dixie Highway east to Morgan Street. The stretch is residential and homeowners have voiced their concerns about speeding.
The goal of the change is to slow vehicles down without causing too much traffic congestion. Lane reduction was one option suggested by the engineering firm Burns & McDonnell in a 2021 traffic study commissioned by the village.
If the village receives the ITEP grant, it will cover most of the lane redesign cost of $241,000. The village’s portion of the project would be $48,200, according to Economic Development Director Angela Mesaros. Improvements on 183rd Street were included in the village’s current budget.
The open house sessions will also be an opportunity to talk about the proposed closing of Gottschalk Avenue where it intersects with 183rd Street, Schaefer said.
That spot is another one that residents identified as dangerous. In addition to speeding on 183rd Street, cars attempting to turn onto 183rd from Gottschalk have limited visibility to the east. A pedestrian was killed there in 2015.
The village tested the Gottschalk closing option in July.