New stop signs for 7 Arlington Heights intersections

The civic participation of a few residents was rewarded on Monday night with new stop signs at seven intersections in an effort to make their Arlington Heights neighborhood safer.

The village board approved the new two-way stops in a neighborhood north of Recreation Park that is bordered by Arlington Heights Road, Haddow Avenue, Euclid Avenue and Miner Street.

The streets in this neighborhood are laid out in a grid pattern with very short blocks and very few regulated intersections, village officials said. Because of busy traffic on Arlington Heights Road and Euclid Avenue, there has been an increase in through traffic in the neighborhood and several accidents have occurred, which concerned residents.

The village plans to install alternating 2-way stop signs as part of a one-year trial period at the seven intersections. Village Manager Randy Recklaus said they the village will evaluate if the new arrangement works for the neighborhood using speed studies, traffic volume counts and accident data.

“This is a really good example of collaboration between a neighborhood and engineering to resolve an existing traffic issue,” Recklaus said.

Two-way stop signs will be placed at the intersections of Fremont Street stopping for Pine Avenue, Pine Avenue stopping for St. James Street, Eastman Street stopping for Pine Avenue, Belmont Avenue stopping for Eastman Street, Fremont Street stopping for Haddow Avenue, Haddow Avenue stopping for St. James Street and Eastman Street stopping for Haddow Avenue.

Recklaus said the village isn't looking to impede traffic, but also wants to consider safety.

“It keeps the flow of traffic moving smoothly and doesn't create bottlenecks,” he said.

Two residents spoke, but more than a dozen attended the meeting and thanked the board for hearing their concerns and making a change.

“This is a great example of how we work together with the residents to improve our village one way or another,” said Village President Tom Hayes.