Route 83 speed limit won't be lowered

The speed limit on Route 83 in Prospect Heights will not be lowered, but more police will be patrolling it and handing out tickets to speeders, according to Prospect Heights officials.

The Prospect Heights City Council on Monday reviewed the Illinois Department of Transportation's denial to lower the limit between Euclid and Hintz roads from 40 mph to 35 mph.

"The engineering and statistics don't qualify it for that kind of speed," said Prospect Heights Police Chief Bruce Morris.

Alderman Dolly Vole had wanted the speed limit lowered due to nearby schools and residential areas.

The state agency said the road at that stretch did not have the number of car accidents or driveways to merit a speed lowering. The agency uses a formula based on traffic variables to determine the speed, Morris said.

While a traffic study at that stretch determined the speed was proper, it also found that about 59 percent of vehicles violated the limit. Between 20,000 and 30,000 cars pass along that route daily.

Morris said that decreasing the speed limit won't necessarily prevent people from speeding. But patrolling the area and handing out tickets was a way to control that area, he said.

"The only things that works is enforcement," Morris told the council. "That is the only thing that reduces the speed."