Living just slightly northwest of Naperville’s downtown business area, resident Keith Burton at times has had difficulty getting his car out of his driveway due to the sheer amount of vehicles jammed close to his driveway along Franklin Avenue.
He also has seen delivery and garbage trucks carefully maneuvering down his street to avoid cars that were often flanking both sides of the road.
“These are very small streets,” Burton said. “They were built 100 years ago and were not built for parking on both sides.”
Further congesting the Westside neighborhood is the deluge of downtown shoppers who use the side streets for parking when the nearby parking garage is full, he added
Concerned that an emergency vehicle would be unable to reach a home on his street due to amount of cars clogging both sides of the street, Burton first contacted a City Council member by email.
Eventually, Burton addressed the entire council last December and as a result the Naperville City Council and the Naperville Transportation Advisory Board agreed to a parking study of the area.
Of the residents who responded to the survey—13 out of 85 solicited—some said that buildup of traffic is especially cumbersome for their neighborhood when events are occurring at nearby Washington Junior High or the DuPage Children’s Museum—especially along Spring Avenue.
Another respondent has witnessed school buses and transportation buses struggle to make it through “choke points” on his street when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street on Spring Avenue.
More Top Picks Mandoline
At times vehicles need to “alternate” to get through a congested street, one respondent noted.
Noting that while new construction in his neighborhood remained steady even during the economic downtown, Jim Ruhl, president of the Westside Homeowners Association said construction is on the rise. As a result, Ruhl said the construction traffic combined with downtown shoppers using the streets for parking has led to greater congestion.
To give a little relief to the parking situation, the City Council recently approved a plan to prohibit parking on several streets in the Westside neighborhood. Signs soon will be appearing that will prohibit parking on the north side of Franklin Street between Mill and Webster streets.
“A portion of Franklin Street was already designated for parking only on one side,” Burton said.
Based on the revamped parking rules, it also is prohibited on the east side of Eagle Street, between Benton and Spring avenues and the south side of Douglas Avenue between Mill and Webster streets. In addition, parking will be prohibited on the north side of Spring Avenue between Mill and Eagle streets and the south side of Spring Avenue between Eagle and Webster streets.
In considering which streets to limit parking, Jennifer Louden, Naperville’s transportation team leader said at a Transportation Advisory Board meeting that city staff wanted to maintain as much parking as possible.
Even with the new regulations, Burton contends that the amount of traffic that streams through his neighborhood during the morning and evening commutes has led to several near misses of pedestrians in crosswalks.
And while Burton understands the increased traffic is the result of a successful commercial business area, he added that “motorists need to remember that people live here also.”
Cathy Janek is a freelance writer
Readers can email her at [email protected] to tell her about any interesting transportation-related issues.