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Warrenville committee approves $80,000 traffic study to guide neighborhood speed limits
Summary
The Warrenville Public Works & Infrastructure Committee recommended that the city hire Kimley Horn & Associates for an $80,000 traffic study to evaluate speed limits, gather data on speeding and produce a traffic-calming toolkit; aldermen debated 20 vs. 25 mph standards and whether signage alone will change behavior.
The Warrenville Public Works & Infrastructure Committee recommended on Aug. 11 that the City Council approve an $80,000 professional-services agreement with Kimley Horn & Associates to conduct a citywide traffic study and develop a traffic-calming toolkit.
The study will collect speed and volume data on busier streets with limits above 25 mph, evaluate representative residential streets under 20 and 25 mph, and propose engineering and policy measures for consistent residential speed limits. Director Kler told the committee the budget includes a $65,000 base and a $15,000 scope expansion to address a previously incomplete action item, bringing the total to $80,000.
Why it matters: committee members said the study would provide data the city does not currently have and would support consistent, defensible decisions about neighborhood speed limits and traffic calming. “Data-driven decisions” and a public-facing toolkit were reasons cited by supporters.
Alderman Davalos and Alderman Widner spoke in favor of the contract, saying staff and elected officials need local data to make defensible speed-limit choices and to strengthen walkability. Mayor Johnson urged support as well, saying the study will help the city choose appropriate engineering controls and avoid ad-hoc decisions: “Without this data, you’re just going to be winging it.”
Alderman Lockett said she was skeptical of the cost and argued for targeted, lower-cost measures such as better signage and portable radar feedback signs on specific streets. Several aldermen noted that changing speed-limit signs without roadway changes is unlikely to alter driver behavior; City Administrator White and staff emphasized that the study will report the percentage of vehicles that would be in violation at candidate limits—information aldermen said they need before setting a single residential standard (20 vs. 25 mph).
The committee voted by voice to recommend council approval of the Kimley Horn agreement. The motion to recommend approval was made by Alderman Widner and seconded by Alderman Kenberg.
Next steps: the recommendation will go to the full City Council for final approval and the consultant will prepare a scope of work and schedule if council authorizes the contract.
