Pedestrians crossing Main Street at Busse Avenue in downtown Mount Prospect soon could have a safer passage, as village trustees approved plans for a new crosswalk there.
The crosswalk will serve pedestrians traveling from the west to village hall or Central Continental Bakery and from the east to restaurants like Station 34 and the Mount Prospect Public House, or the 20West apartments.
Work is expected to begin in June, with completion by the end of the year.
The design includes a refuge island, a right-in/right-out island on the east leg of Busse Avenue, and pavement markings and signage, including overhead pedestrian crossing signs that illuminate at night.
The view from Busse Avenue looking eastbound across Main Street in downtown Mount Prospect. Village officials approved plans this week for a crosswalk at the intersection.
Steve Zalusky/szalusky@dailyherald.com
Although there is potential good news for pedestrians, there might be a slight hardship for drivers, since left turns onto eastbound Busse Avenue from southbound Main Street will be prohibited.
At Tuesday’s village board meeting, trustees approved a construction contact with Woodstock-based Alliance Contractors for an amount not to exceed $515,000. They also approved a contract for construction engineering with Vernon Hills-based Gewalt Hamilton Associates Inc. for an amount not to exceed $69,000.
Trustees also voted to amend the traffic code to restrict the left turns.
“This is a project that has been in the planning for quite some time,” Public Works Director Sean Dorsey, noting that it was first considered in 2013 and design work began in 2018.
Dorsey said a study revealed that a majority of drivers turning left from southbound Main onto eastbound Busse wound up continuing out of the neighborhood.
‘I see it as being a gateway for people to at least get across the street without needing to dodge the traffic,” Trustee Vince Dante said.
“There are too many people that keep playing ‘Frogger’ in the middle of the street,” Jeffrey Nejdl, a member of the village’s transportation safety commission, added in reference to the traffic-dodging video game. “We don’t want that anymore.”