Traffic Restrictions Rule Board Meeting

Traffic restrictions were on the minds of a number of Deerfield residents who rose to speak before a packed as the Board asked Village staff to prepare two ordinances that will affect how people get about town.

Those advocating for a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Robert York and Osterman Avenues got their wish after a seven-month wait while residents of the Coramandel subdivision were unable to sway the Board to restrict Briarwood Country Club’s new paddle tennis facility.

The Village was poised to approve the four-way stop sign at Osterman and Robert York during its Nov. 21 meeting but chose further consideration by the Safety Commission in light of a study by consultant Gewalt Hamilton concluding the restriction was not warranted.

“You can write laws based on what might be presented by an expert but sometimes we feel we know our own neighborhood more than the expert,” Trustee William Seiden before siding with the 4-2 majority.

Seiden and Trustees Mary Oppenheim, Barbara Struthers and Robert Benton voted for the four-way sign. Trustees Alan Farkas and Tom Jester opposed it.

“This is a travesty,” Jester said. “It was proven it really is not warranted then and it’s not now.”

A number of residents of the South Commons and One Deerfield Place developments, primarily senior citizens, came asking for the four-way sign and several of their group spoke in favor of having the Village draft the ordinance.

“De we have to wait until somebody is killed,” Sheila Parson said. “I’ve almost been hit by a car. I don’t know how I wasn’t. They really do speed down Osterman.” People who live at those two developments frequently cross Osterman on foot to walk to shops at Deerfield Square.

When the Deerfield Road Metra underpass was closed during construction last summer, the Village placed a temporary four-way stop sign at the intersection. Some people became used to it including 46-year Village resident Don Davis.

“I’m the one who started this,” Davis said. “When we had the sign last summer it was the first time I felt safe.” Though he does not live in one of the two developments, he indicated 71 residents of South Commons signed petitions in favor of the four-way stop.

Briarwood To Add Paddle Tennis

Citizen advocacy was on display earlier in the evening when a spokesperson for the three owners’ associations at Coramandel argued for steeper restrictions on the proposed paddle tennis facility at Briarwood because of traffic and noise issues arising from the proposed Waukegan Road entrance.

The group of approximately 20 appeared before the Plan Commission when the proposal was unanimously approved as it did Monday. The Board voted 6-0 in favor of the idea.

The Board was satisfied by Briarwood representative Lawrence Friedman that noise levels were within legal standards and the traffic entering and exiting the facility would be minimal since it would primarily be limited only to people using the courts.

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