Still More Crashes At Elmhurst Intersection

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst officials are preparing to take more action to make a local intersection safer.

They are targeting Maple and North avenues. In the spring, the City Council voted to install right-turn-only signs at the north and south legs of Maple at the intersection with the four-lane North.

That was after police reported 43 traffic crashes there in the last five years, including two serious ones in the months before the council's vote.

Since the council's action, two other major crashes have occurred along this stretch of North Avenue, including a car rollover, according to a city memo.

On Monday, the council plans to vote on erecting signs banning westbound North drivers from turning left on Maple.

The proposal also includes similar signs for North's intersections with Evergreen, Elm and Larch avenues. Those prohibitions would only apply to rush hours – between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

These signs have the approval of the state Department of Transportation, the memo said.

According to the city, about half of the 43 crashes involved left-turning drivers struck by cross traffic, some turning left from Maple and others turning left from North, police said.

Another 10 were rear-end crashes on North, mostly westbound, and may be indirectly related to drivers waiting to take left turns.