Wheaton residents raise safety, tree and drainage concerns about Gulf Circle sidewalk plan

At the Feb. 18 Wheaton City Council meeting, a group of Gulf Circle residents urged the city to reconsider the proposed sidewalk alignment for their neighborhood, saying the plan creates multiple risky street crossings, threatens mature trees and could reduce yard drainage.

Bob Fouts, a Gulf Circle resident, said the current plan would force people walking the circle to "cross the street 4 times," with two crossings on the east side that he called dangerous because they are 90-degree turns where "many people come flying around those 2 right turns and would hit a person in a crosswalk there." He asked the city to consider placing the sidewalk around the outside of the circle so pedestrians would not need to cross multiple times.

Fouts also said the planned route would remove three mature trees — including a hybrid elm he said the city planted and that is now "over 20 feet high" — and asked the council to work with neighbors to avoid removing those trees.

Kristen Meyer, who lives at 1112 Gulf Lane, told the council she was speaking "for the children in the circle" and warned that the layout could give parents and children a "false sense of security": "I think a sidewalk gives the kids and the parents a false sense of security," she said, adding that delivery and service drivers sometimes drive quickly through the circle.

A resident who identified himself as Zack said he appreciated that staff responded to neighborhood emails and asked for a collaborative process, noting both safety and flooding risks where properties back up to Springbrook Creek. Zack and other residents said neighbors had installed French drains about 15 years earlier and that they had not since had water in their houses; they expressed concern the new sidewalk and reduced permeability could increase flooding.

Sarah, who identified herself as a resident and a licensed architect, repeated concerns about safety and asked that the city treat the circle as a "very unique situation" that may need a customized solution.

Residents pointed to a short driveway at 1116 Gulf Circle as a specific constraint and cited a nearby precedent — a sidewalk placed next to the curb at 605 Sunnyside — as an example of a compromise that worked in another Wheaton neighborhood.

City staff and Mayor Seese responded that the project is the start of a process: the sidewalk program is multi-year, staff will take comments into consideration and they offered to meet with residents and the city engineers. Staff said the city plans to put the sidewalk work out to bid in March, open bids in April and that construction could begin after May depending on contractor schedules. The city also said it would coordinate sidewalk work with planned road work and a new water main so neighbors have a single construction period.

No formal council action on the Gulf Circle alignment was taken at the meeting. City staff said they would follow up with residents to schedule a meeting and to review alternatives.

Residents and council members asked for early meetings with engineers and for the city to consider perimeter alignments and curb- or curb-adjacent placements that would preserve driveways and mature street trees while reducing crossings.

The council acknowledged the concerns and encouraged residents to email staff to arrange the meeting.

Ending: The sidewalk plan remains under review. Staff gave residents a tentative procurement timeline and committed to further community meetings before finalizing the alignment.