East Dundee hears bike-and-pedestrian plan; near‑miss study flags risky downtown crossing

Civiltech Engineering on Nov. 17 briefed the East Dundee Village Board on a draft bike-and-pedestrian plan and a near‑miss camera study that identified repeated close calls at the Main Street–Fox River Trail crossing.

"This plan is to improve safety and enhance connectivity for people walking, biking and rolling throughout the village," said Lisonbee Sweeney, a transportation planner with Civiltech Engineering. She told trustees the project team has surveyed residents, held a steering‑committee bike tour and collected about 200 survey responses and 55 interactive-map pins that cluster around downtown, the riverfront, Lions Park and key school and trail crossings.

Traffic engineer Steve Pouch, also of Civiltech, described a Miovision near‑miss analysis at the Main Street crossing that produced short video clips of flagged close calls. "The most common conflict flagged was the southbound right‑hook," Pouch said, describing drivers turning across the west‑leg crosswalk and conflicting with pedestrians and bicyclists. He said the videos suggest many incidents stem from driver behavior and constrained sight lines rather than a single engineering defect.

Civiltech proposed near‑term measures including pedestrian‑warning signage for turning vehicles, consideration of a full‑time right‑turn restriction on particular legs, and installing a leading pedestrian interval (a few seconds head start for pedestrians). Longer‑term options reviewed by the consultants included realigning the crosswalk, changing turning geometry to discourage through movements, improving sight lines and, as a major alternative, relocating the Fox River Trail alignment to remove the conflict entirely. Pouch emphasized any work on state routes will require coordination with IDOT.

Trustees asked about specific corridors and local connections. Sweeney said the plan maps sidewalk gaps and recommends shared‑use off‑street paths on higher‑speed routes (Penny, Higgins, Dundee) with marked shared lanes in residential areas and bike lanes where space permits. "One of the largest benefits of having a plan is improving competitiveness for grants," Sweeney said, noting the plan will support future engineering and construction funding applications.

The consultants said they will refine network recommendations, develop prioritization and phasing criteria tied to jurisdiction and funding, and draft a complete‑streets policy after interviews with village departments. They told trustees a steering‑committee meeting will be scheduled in December, followed by an open house in January and a final presentation in the spring. Civiltech can provide the full near‑miss report and the video highlights to staff for follow‑up.

The board did not take formal action on the plan at the Nov. 17 meeting; consultants asked for feedback and public input during the next open‑house phase.