Batavia aldermen are split on whether to pressure Aurora into removing a gate on Wagner Road off Mesa Lane to unclog heavy traffic on Batavia streets.
The discussion was tabled Tuesday night after the council disagreed about whether or not the gate should be removed. It was installed to prevent commercial traffic from cutting through residential streets to avoid traffic.
“In Batavia, we would not approve a subdivision like that,” said Alderman Alan Wolff. “If I had my way, I’d go out with a Sawzall tonight.”
In 2008, a Super Walmart and several other stores were constructed on the northwest corner of Kirk and Butterfield roads. Residents of the Kirkland Farm neighborhood in Aurora worried traffic in the area — which included shoppers, garbage collection vehicles and delivery trucks — would begin traveling through their neighborhood as a shortcut if Kirk became too congested.
The Kirkland Farms Homeowners Association, therefore, requested Aurora officials close Wagner Road at Mesa Lane by installing the gate, leaving just one entry point to the subdivision. The gate has since forced all traffic to travel through Wagner in Batavia, inflating the traffic volume along Wagner and Wind Energy Pass as a result.
The only way for vehicles to enter the subdivision is through Wind Energy Pass. Emergency vehicles, though, can move the gate to enter the subdivision.
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“I don’t think people ever thought it would be truly commercial, and the neighborhood felt it kind of got trapped in between,” said city administrator Bill McGrath. “The subdivision was designed to maximize a nice neighborhood.”
About 580 vehicles travel daily along Wagner Road, according to a spring 2014 traffic count cited by community development director Scott Buening in a staff memo.
Several residents remember the gate becoming an issue for Batavia in 2008. A heavy storm flooded the intersection of Kirk and Butterfield and the gate remained closed. The issue arose again last year when a developer proposed an industrial park on Kirk near Wind Energy Pass, which would have created further congestion.
City officials Tuesday suggested bringing the issue of the gate to Aurora aldermen, saying Batavia streets carry the bulk of the heavy traffic. City staff estimate that removing the gate and allowing traffic to use the south exit would cut Wagner Road traffic by about 50 percent, according to the memo.
While some aldermen understand the desire to eliminate traffic from residential neighborhoods by installing a gate, others feel the argument isn’t sufficient enough to burden Batavia streets.
“I don’t see a real benefit to it,” Wolff said. “It may be easier for them to have better traffic patterns than they do now, and they won’t be forced to go through an overload of Batavia streets.”
Aurora resident Roger Vernon said he was involved with the initial decision to put up the neighborhood gate. Since the Walmart opened, traffic keeps increasing, he said.
“The gate was the solution [Aurora] offered,” he said. “The city of Aurora did a lot of studies and that was the best solution to the situation.”
Alderman Carl Fischer, who represents Ward 1 and the affected area, supported the idea of officials conducting an updated traffic study so aldermen could make an informed decision.
“As of right now, speaking for the people in my ward, this is something that deserves more study,” he said.
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