Seminary survey
Dear ELVN Friends and Neighbors,
Please take this survey concerning Seminary being a shared street, as well as a summary of the plan. This is a project that the Kelly Park Advisory Council (KPAC) has considered extensively. Please take about 5 minutes to review the proposed plans and reply to the survey.
KPAC believes that a shared street with better signage and traffic control will benefit the park. This proposal would NOT close the street. It also would NOT restrict parking. It is simply an attempt to make drivers aware of their proximity to a community resource that is used by many families, fans, pets, bikers, and walkers.
Please send any questions to Michael Zink at mizink9@hotmail.com. Thank you!
11.8.2020 Summary of proposed traffic control measures for Seminary between Grace and Irving Park
Objective – to make Seminary Avenue (1100 W) between Grace Street (3800 N) and Irving Park Road (4000 N) a safer more “comfortable” street for the pedestrians that use Seminary to access Kelly Park. Kelly Park users, many of which are families, cross Seminary to access the Park. This summer, possibly as a result of the “stay at home” directive the number of Park users may have increased. There are two streets Byron (3900 N) and Dakin (3932 N) which “T’ into Seminary between Grace and Irving Park.
Regarding the posting of signs to alert motorist of the pedestrians and bicyclist who use Seminary, the sign is used at shared street locations in the City would serve that purpose (Shared Street text words can be removed from sign. Standard black on yellow traffic warning signs could also be used.) We recommend that CDOT post signs with Shared Street message shown below:
- on EB and WB Grace approaching Seminary, post sign with a right arrow for WB sign and a left arrow for EB sign.
- on westbound Byron Street. post sign with a right. Arrow
- on westbound Dakin, post sign with right arrow
Seminary widens immediately north of Byron. We recommend that this sign be affixed to a barrel be placed on Seminary immediately north Byron and Dakin. The barrels would “slow down” motor traffic on the widened segment of Seminary.
A decision point – Shared streets, as per CDOT policy, could include signs that read STREET CLOSED – LOCAL ACCESS ONLY. street to thru traffic. Seminary at Grace is a narrow roadway and we recommend that the sign used be 2 feet by 3 feet in size and be attached to the light pole on Seminary immediately north of Grace (NWX). Seminary, at this point is 16 Feet wide and a larger sign on a barricade could block the street. This sign could be posted as the result of a request to CDOT from the Alderman and is not limited to the Shared Street Program.
Repaint of the existing crosswalks on Seminary at Grace, Byron, Dakin and Irving Park, which are in need of maintenance. We request these crosswalks be repainted as international bold stripe crosswalks. (See example below.) These crosswalks are the entryways into Kelly Park and we believe the Kelly Park entryways should be as visible as possible. Consider painting cross hatched pavement markings or some other ‘treatment” to the pavement in the Byron and Dakin intersections within the boundaries created by the crosswalks similar to the paint markings in front of the Fire Station on Waveland at Seminary. This action would further increase the visibility of the Kelly Park entryways.