Since the Village has seen fit to put the horse trough in play, let's ask some questions. Feel free to add your questions.

Why not remove the display altogether and make Main Street 2 way?

Would a change in traffic pattern on Main make Crescent Street safer?

Why not make Crescent and Pennsylvania 2 way while we are at it?

Could you utilize Main Street for street festivals, weekend markets, etc. by blocking the street and sending the traffic around the block?

Just asking.

Here's a not-so difficult question.

Should every single legislator in Illinois, both Republican and Democrat, from the Governor to the President of the Senate, be voted out of office?

What miserable failures....every single one of them.

I don't believe there is room for that scenario with eliminating quite a few parking spaces.

quote:

Originally posted by ronkas:
Since the Village has seen fit to put the horse trough in play, let's ask some questions. Feel free to add your questions.

Why not remove the display altogether and make Main Street 2 way?

If the trough is removed permanently, and no replica is put back in its place, then I think your idea would be a pretty good one, as there'd be no historical reason to have something blocking the intersection. I still like the idea of the Xmas tree going there, however. So maybe we could replace the current triangular shaped planter with a smaller diameter circular one. It would depend on the diameter of our new tree too. It would have to be sufficiently small to allow traffic to "bubble" around it. But keeping even a small planter and going 2-way would lose the ability to make left turns onto Crescent.

quote:

Would a change in traffic pattern on Main make Crescent Street safer?

I don't know what the accident frequency at that intersection is, but I've been witness/participant to near misses with pedestrians. The no-stop-right-turn for northbound drivers is dangerous for pedestrians not familiar with the layout and car situation

quote:

Why not make Crescent and Pennsylvania 2 way while we are at it?

I don't see a problem with Pennsylvania going 2-way. My guess is Crescent would lose the angled parking (and thus, reduced spots) in the attempt. You'd definitely have to permanently lose the planter that the trough is in.

quote:

Could you utilize Main Street for street festivals, weekend markets, etc. by blocking the street and sending the traffic around the block?

Just asking.

I believe they already do that for the Tree Lighting.

Putting a stop sign on Crescent and Main for northbound right turners would give our volunteer fire department lots and lots of practice pulling people out of train-crumpled cars. Might cause a lot of delays for commuters, too.

Also, at that intersection, there is not a pedestrian crossing from Cold Stone Creamery over to the East side where the Village sign is. Pedestrians persist in walking across Main Street there despite the fact that northbound traffic has no stop sign. If drivers and walkers would get off of their cell phones and focus on traffic issues at least when they are, say, in traffic, all would proceed more safely.

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
Putting a stop sign on Crescent and Main for northbound right turners would give our volunteer fire department lots and lots of practice pulling people out of train-crumpled cars. Might cause a lot of delays for commuters, too.

Silly boy. It's elementary that you can't have a stop sign going northbound at Crescent. Main would have the right of way. You already do that at Park and Crescent.

What about reconfiguring street parking on Crescent to eliminate the angle parking? That gives you more traffic room. It would send the parkers into the metered lot. And why not eliminate those meters? Can there be that much revenue?


And yes, JRPotts. Off with all their heads in every elected body. Except President. We need the laughter.

I may be an idiot....strike that....I definitely am an idiot, but I think every scenario that you have put forth has halved the on-street parking in the CBD. Granted...I only live 3 or 4 blocks away...so I don't care, but I think the reason it is set up the way it is is just for that very reason...to maximize parking...and give us a place to put the cool new $42,000 Holiday tree that we are buying.

quote:

Originally posted by ronkas:

What about reconfiguring street parking on Crescent to eliminate the angle parking? That gives you more traffic room. It would send the parkers into the metered lot. And why not eliminate those meters? Can there be that much revenue?

Eliminating angle parking to go to parallel will decrease the available parking for CBD patrons, something I think the business owners would be loathe to do.

I count 16 parallel spots to about 26 angled in the aerial photo of that stretch of Crescent.

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
I may be an idiot....strike that....I definitely am an idiot, but I think every scenario that you have put forth has halved the on-street parking in the CBD.

Dear Clamidiot: How so? Presently, you have two lanes of traffic southbound on Main, with angled and parallel parking. Switching to north/south changes nothing. And changing the angled parking on Crescent affects whom? Starbucks? We have already heard from people who would rather stay in their cars, and go to the drive thru on Roosevelt, all things being equal.

For the sake of argument, keep Crescent one way. Other than a tree (albeit a kick butt, super duper model), what reason is there to keep Main one way for one block? The traffic pattern that currently exists does not add to the businesses on Forest and Pennsylvania.

If you move the antique which is used as one of the symbols of the town, and have the audacity to recommend a "model" to replace it, hasn't it already been decided that the Village is not in the mood for preservation?

Don't you think we should get on with the modernization and stop making excuses? Or, maybe we can make a Disney town of "models". Perhaps we can start with that Clock and remove that. How many spaces did we lose there?

My guess is that there is not enough room to make Main two way and keep the present parking situation. Tight as a MoFo as is. Getting an old dame in her Brougham D'Elegance to parallel park on Main would be a really fun sight to see.

I am also guessing that there may be rules for width with regard to two-way roads. Maybe not.

BTW, what would the benefit be to all of this? You know...in a nutshell.

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
BTW, what would the benefit be to all of this? You know...in a nutshell.

Could changing the traffic pattern in town change the dynamics? I have not heard anyone discuss how traffic, as opposed to parking, can affect a central business district.

I lived in Oak Park for a time in the 80's. They felt that pushing the traffic around Lake Street, instead of through it, would make for a better shopping experience. So, they created a shopping mall. One of the only survivors was Barbara's Bookstore. It was a disaster, no matter how much parking was put up around the Lake Street area. When the traffic was let back on to Lake Street, with less street parking than before, the street was rejuvenated.

I think there is a school of thought that, for all our desire for open spaces, we really desire crowds. That's why sidewalk cafes would create a vibe. 2 way traffic is the same.

I don't know the benefit. I believe some on this board may.

Wait. On this board? I was always under the impression that you were one of the brighter individuals around here. Don't look to me...as many will tell you, I am a broken record of complaints.

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
Wait. On this board? I was always under the impression that you were one of the brighter individuals around here. Don't look to me...as many will tell you, I am a broken record of complaints.

Don't call me names. As to you, Spiro Agnew was talking about your bloodline.

I like the trough. Even if it's only a replica, it should stay. And the traffic pattern should remain. Some traffic is detterred from entering the main block of downtown because they can't get straight through...allowing two-way traffic where you have suggested would increase traffic and I think that would be bad. That's my 2 cents.

Let's see. We need more customers. The customers get here by driving. The drivers are deterred by the traffic patterns (forget the parking for now). Therefore, the customers will not be coming to the CBD.

Seven most dangerous words in business: It has always been done that way.

I don't disagree that the traffic pattern is less than ideal, however I think a bigger issue is the lack of retail stores that offer goods people truly need or want. How many boutique stores does one town need? I do shop at the bookstore, hardware store and bakery on a regular basis. I also visit Starbucks and Einsteins at least once a week. For most other items I end up at Town Square or Yorktown due to the better selection and prices.

I also like the trough. I also like the xmas tree there because you can see it better than last year.

ronaks,
The driving is not the problem. The parking is the problem - or has been when the downtown was more filled with shops....

quote:

Originally posted by ronkas:


Seven most dangerous words in business: It has always been done that way.

amen to that, brother. same goes for government.