The Homewood Village Board voted 5-1 Tuesday to move forward with increasing police enforcement and other measures on 183rd Street, hoping to deter speeding and make the street safer for residents. 

It was the latest action on the controversial plan to reduce 183rd Street traffic from its current four lanes to one lane in each direction, a center lane to make turning into driveways easier and two lanes along the curbs for bicyclists.

Several Homewood residents took the stand at the Oct. 14 meeting to express their views on addressing the longtime safety concerns for 183rd Street and the road diet. 

Since the study that was conducted by Burns & McDonnell to assess traffic patterns and residents’ concerns in 2021, the conversation regarding the matter seemed to come to a standstill.  

The study had found that there was no particular rush hour peak, with traffic gradually increasing throughout the day. About 50% of accidents were rear-end crashes due to people turning in and out of driveways, or lane weaving, Noah Schumerth, Homewood assistant economic and community development director, said. 

According to Homewood Village Manager Napoleon Haney, 47 safety mitigations were suggested by the firm as a result of the study. 

In terms of finances, a grant of $232,875 was awarded to the village from Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program towards the road diet in 2023, which will expire in 2027 if not used. The Illinois Department of Transportation is requiring a full Phase 1 engineering, which will cost $288,100. This leaves a gap of $101,800 that the village will need to account for. Homewood’s fiscal year for 2027 has already set aside $400,000 for the project with no specific funding source yet identified, Haney said. 

Based on data gathered so far, village officials presented a total of four options for addressing the issue:

• Option 1 is to perform additional studies.
• Option 2 is to go through with the road diet/ bike lane reconfiguration. 
• Option 3 is to increase law enforcement and/or additional signage. 
• Option 4 would be to implement a non-binding referendum- a vote by Homewood residents at election for which action they would like to see implemented. 

Homewood resident Ashley Kjos took the stand to share his support for Option 2. 

“No one should ever feel unsafe on a sidewalk, and yet that is the reality for long stretches of 183rd,” Kjos said. 

Homewood resident Angela Thomas shared her alarming close encounters on 183rd with her daughter. 

“One morning we were standing on our curb and we were waiting to cross the street onto Loomis,” Thomas said, adding, “I say that it’s time to go, and then I look back, and I had to shove my kid off of her bike back onto the sidewalk because the car that was at Loomis is now going 70 miles an hour.” 

The road diet seemed to be the goal that the village was working towards until other concerns started to rise. 

Homewood resident of over 25 years and former designer in engineering, Stephen McDowell, was opposed to the idea. 

“I personally do not believe that cutting down four to three is a wise idea. We’re going to see a large amount of traffic getting backed up and pushed all the way out,” McDowell said. 

Homewood Deputy Fire Chief Steve DeJong shared his concern over the transportation of emergency vehicles.

“183rd Street is one of our main response corridors, and I believe that it will negatively impact our ability to safely and efficiently respond across town east and west,” DeJong said. 

The village board also expressed differing opinions on the matter. 

“I am not in favor of the bike lane, I think that’s highly dangerous,” Trustee Patrick Siemsen said, adding, “I do not believe that engineering traffic congestion and agitating drivers is going to be an effective tool for managing that. My opinion is that I do not support that at this time.”

Trustee Jay Heiferman, on the other hand, was in favor of the road diet. 

“I will continue to support the road diet plan,” Heiferman said, adding, “it’s a tough balance, none of it is great, but I think the overwhelming safety for me is slowing down traffic and creating that buffer, it’s highly needed.”