6.2 Traffic and parking
Traffic around this building is still a major concern. This affects nearby residents, and also deters people from elsewhere in Oak Park and in other towns from patronizing Downtown businesses (see evidence in the Comprehensive and Master plans.) Albion’s traffic projections use “Base Conditions,” (good weather, no work zone activity, good visibility, etc.) for their analysis. They did not do a Sensitivity Analysis, which asks what if their projections are wrong. We are already living with the poor planning choices from the Vantage building, where a restaurant was built without a loading bay big enough for the delivery trucks. Trucks park on Forest Ave. for up to two hours, creating a one-lane street and hazardous conditions for drivers and pedestrians. The proposed Albion building will have two loading zones. One is on Forest Avenue, just opposite the Vantage loading docks, thus further restricting passage there. The other, Albion testified, would be in the alley between the building and Austin Gardens, requiring delivery trucks to make three-point, back-up turns in a narrow alley that is also proposed as an access route to Austin Gardens, including for children attending programs at the Environmental Education Center. Plan Commissioners pointed out the dangers involved.
Lake Street traffic congestion.
The May 30 report pointed out that the Master and Comprehensive plans call for attention to reducing traffic along Lake Street, because a congested “main street” discourages people from outside the local area from coming here to shop, eat, or purchase services. There is now even more solid evidence that the proposed development would do just the opposite, increasing traffic on Lake Street, and nearby residential streets. Albion’s own traffic study states it has included Oak Park Station, but the new Station Street (between Lake Street and North Boulevard) is not included in any of the traffic study street diagrams (pp. 22-25 of their report), and we found no mention of it in the report. The addition of an intersection at Station Street (a.k.a. Maple Street) and Lake Street will add yet more delay to east- and westbound Lake Street traffic. This is due not only to the addition of yet another intersection along Lake Street, but also to the very close spacing of busy intersections between Marion Street and Harlem Avenue.
A quick snapshot of traffic congestion in downtown Oak Park can be found in the Level of Service (LOS) criteria on p. 27 of the Albion report, and the accompanying LOS and Delays provided at each intersection on pp. 28-36. Note the significant amount of roadway that is listed at the LOS D, E and F. What do those levels mean for drivers?
KLOA's remedy for traffic congestion is to simply add 2 seconds for each green light along Lake Street. This makes it sound like an easy fix to a minor problem. But no evidence is provided that this will be an effective solution, and it ignores the fact that the Village has already sought to remediate current traffic problems by adjusting Lake Street traffic signals as best they can.
Moreover, just as the Albion report shows only income and ignores costs with regard to tax revenue, here too the report books only one half of the equation. Adding 2 seconds to intersections along Lake Street must also mean delaying north- and southbound traffic the same amount at those same intersections. Traffic problems are merely sent to other, even smaller, streets.
Regrettably, this pattern is familiar. Every traffic report for every proposed highrise development projects minimal impact, remedied by traffic signal modification. The Project Review Team Report, which mainly just reiterates information from Albion’s marketing material, identifies Albion’s traffic analysis as significantly over-optimistic. For example:
While no single development is responsible for traffic congestion, the overall cumulative effect is significant. Increment by increment, roads become impassible, and people avoid coming to Downtown.
Traffic beyond Lake Street.
Another shortcoming of the traffic analysis is that it focuses attention on Lake Street, without adequately considering the effects on traffic on neighboring streets, which are primarily residential. Consider, for example, Forest Avenue and Ontario Street, just north of Lake Street. As Lake Street becomes more congested between Forest and Harlem, more drivers choose to bypass that stretch by using Forest Avenue and Ontario Street to travel between Lake Street and Marion Street or Harlem Avenue. More will also think of turning north on Kenilworth to Ontario. Even now, service trucks have begun using the narrow, residential stretch of Ontario east of Forest.
And a home-owner who lives along Ontario Street between Forest and Marion gave this report:
Similarly, homeowners along North Marion Street, which is residential between Ontario Street and Chicago Avenue, report increasing through-traffic in that segment, and residences along North and South Boulevards will also likely be affected by diverted traffic. Longer lights on north-south streets and increased Lake Street traffic will only make these conditions worse.
Note also that personal vehicles are not the only issue. Traffic considerations must also include the increased number of waste-disposal and service vehicles. And people are increasingly using on-line services such as Amazon to shop, which means increased traffic from delivery vehicles.
Inadequate parking.
Another factor that limits the success of businesses and services is parking. Parking in downtown Oak Park is already a limiting factor, as is availability of parking spaces for nearby renters and owners whose home does not include private off-street parking. An Albion-sized development will increase the inconvenience of parking in the area. Originally Albion proposed 198 private parking spaces for the 265 units (plus 37 for the businesses at 1010 Lake St.). At the last Plan Commission meeting, this total number was decreased by 35 when Albion redesigned the garage to include a mezzanine lounge, and the Sept. 27 modification reduces it further. In addition, the parking consultant, KLOA, based their parking provision ratios on single stalls, instead of taking into account tandem spaces - where 126 spaces can only be assigned to 63 unique residences. The availability of parking spaces to individual residences is 51% during the day and 65% at night, both below the auto ownership of rental units within ¼ mile of a train station (0.70 vehicles). And this only takes into account resident ownership, not the parking need of guests or of visitors to the retail spaces.
We have heard the rationale that many residents will choose not to own cars, but will instead use their bicycles and public transport. Where is the actual evidence for that? Will residents take public transportation to the grocery store? To the Harrison Arts District? Will they take Uber to visit their relatives in Wisconsin? How many of them will in fact have two vehicles?
It is a matter of speculation that residents will have fewer vehicles per person than in the past. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2015 report, Beyond Traffic 2045, notes the possibility of decreased use of vehicles, but concludes that “In 2045, most of us will probably still use personal vehicles to get to work and to go about our daily tasks” (p. 23). The report also warns that increased online shopping “may also increase truck traffic in urban areas as goods are delivered to residences.” (p. 19).
Parking needs go beyond residents and shoppers: Service vehicles also require parking, and more residents means more service vehicles. Current residents near the Lake and Forest site already complain that plumbers, painters, etc. cannot find places to park their vehicles during work projects. For any package or equipment-based service, parking in a garage blocks away is not viable.