The People Have Spoken-Let’s Keep Talking.

Northfield: You voted NO. Now let’s demand a better solution.

2,161 “no” votes (69.36% of ballots cast) sent a clear message to our village leadership. Now the village is opening up to “discussions” about what’s next for the Happ Rd Improvement Project.

Committee of the Whole Meeting February 18 Recap

If you were unable to attend this meeting in-person, watch the audio recording at www.youtube.com/@villageofnorthfield.”

There was considerable discussion about the Happ Rd Improvement Project, partly because there is a budget line item assigned to it for the upcoming fiscal year, and also because the Village Manager outlined a process for how to proceed now that the previous plan was rejected and stopped. Here is the portion of the meeting packet that pertains to the Happ Rd Project.

Here are the FY 25/26 budget line items that the Board discussed:

You can see two big budget items are $262k for Happ Rd. and $366k for public parking (possibly funded by a grant, but not guaranteed.)

Board members challenged the Happ Rd spending, recommending we slow down, form an “evaluation group” and learn what residents really want. They also challenged spending for new parking, noting that the village currently has parking that is underutilized. The budgeting process is still in work and a revised budget will be presented next month.

You can sign up to receive the Village’s updates on the Happ Rd Project to stay current. Or check back here.

IN THE MEANTIME…….

  • We are keeping yard signs up. Until we see new plans that exclude the roundabout AND center turn lane our message still needs to be out there.

  • Our petition is still active. We currently have over 200 signatures but would like to get to 500. If you haven’t already signed please do so. This is important because the November 5 Public Question was advisory only. If we need to further demonstrate the will of the people, this petition will help us do that.

Charles Orth for Board President

When the “Save Happ Rd” campaign was beginning, Charlie reached out to hear more about our concerns. We know he listened, because he took a stand and began speaking out in board meetings—one of the first to do so. It isn’t hard to see how invested Charlie is in this community. He is present, practical and fair.

We are confident Charlie will continue to listen and lead in a way that is responsive to residents and business owners.

Learn more about Charles Orth.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT OUR VILLAGE BOARD

An election is coming April 1.

The past year has been eye-opening. We watched our Village Board begin 2024 making decisions about the Happ Rd Improvement Project with little push-back. As more residents started speaking out in opposition, board members admitted their knowledge of the project was limited. They had “inherited” the project from previous boards. For some members, as they began to learn more, and hear public opinion their positions began to shift. It’s a lesson for us all in how critically important it is to have a Board who is willing to do what it takes to represent the residents and not other, surreptitious agendas.

In April we will elect a new Board President and three Trustees. The Happ Rd Committee recognizes that our future board will take on responsibility for what happens next on Happ Rd. Based on their actions this past year, we wholeheartedly support these two candidates:

Pamela Papadatos for Trustee

Pam recognized how damaging the loss of parking spaces would be to businesses if a roundabout were to be constructed, long before any current board member did. And she took action that resulted in the Public Question (non-binding referendum) being added to the November 5, 2024 ballot.

We admire Pam’s common sense and willingness to step up and do the right thing.

Learn more about Pamela Papadatos.

Special note on voting for Trustee:  There are three Trustee positions open and your ballot will suggest that you vote for three candidates. but you don't have to. When you vote for more than one candidate you split your vote. Voting for Pamela alone puts the greatest weight behind your vote. If you have another candidate you wish to support then by all means vote for them too. 

Roundabout

Center Turn Lane

Here’s a question we get asked a lot:

“How much has already been spent on this project?”

To the left is the answer received from the village when this question was asked in a FOIA request.

Quote Source

Did you know that the Happ Rd Project calls for the removal of approximately 20 mature trees and their extensive root systems? The water table along the Happ Rd corridor will be altered.

Footnotes

* Data obtained via FOIA request from the Village of Northfield was culled to focus on north of Winnetka Rd, South of Willow Rd, on Happ Rd and not in private parking lots.

**See Steering Committee roster and attendance here.

*** “Objections to this proposal by myself and other members of the former Steering Committee were possibly the reason we were not further called upon to participate past 2017. I think it is unconscionable to eliminate the Orchard parking and run the risk of putting establishments out of business.”

- Steve Cummings Former Steering Committee participant

What are the issues?

The Village of Northfield in partnership with the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highway began around 2015 exploring the idea of constructing a roundabout in our town's business center, and adding a center turn lane in the residential portion of the road. Their justification for making these drastic changes was to improve safety for cars and pedestrians and create a sense of place to support local businesses.

Overwhelmingly, as more residents and business owners have learned of this project, opposition is growing. The concerns fall into these areas:

1.       Safety

Data* shows that there is not a serious traffic flow issue or rate of accidents to warrant such severe and permanent measures.

A roundabout is not appropriate in a town center. It will cause confusion, traffic back-ups and most likely an increase in accidents.

Roundabouts keep cars moving. Drivers in roundabouts focus on navigating the circle, which detracts their attention away from pedestrians. Pedestrian safety will be compromised.

The center turn lane will create new points of potential conflict with the density of driveways on a residential street. It is intended to move left-turning cars out of the way to keep traffic moving. But traffic is never stopped for long on Happ. This type of change to the road opens the door for an increased speed limit and heavier truck traffic.

2.       Walkability and Sense of Place

The roundabout is enormous, roughly the same footprint as the Metamorphosis building—a giant disruption in visual and walking flow. It separates, not unifies, further dividing our town.

The roundabout will eliminate 21 parking spaces, worsening the parking problem we already have. The village cannot guarantee they can replace those spaces.

A roundabout is not a place to gather or gaze at. Pedestrians want to avoid cars, not gather near them.

3.       Transparency and Mishandling

The village and the county pushed this plan through without input from residents and business owners.

The roundabout was proposed in 2015 before a steering committee was even formed.

No homeowners who would later be impacted by the project were invited to be on the steering committee** or even informed of the impacts. Instead, the committee was made up of mostly engineers, village staff, county representatives and developers.

Opposing voices on the steering committee were closed out of meetings.***

The “public engagement process” was anemic: inappropriately placed ads, minimal effort to build awareness.

Bottom line, a roundabout will serve as a detriment and a deterrent to the people who want to enjoy our town, shops and restaurants.

Resident Don Graf said it well on 2/20/24 in a board meeting.

Let’s keep this issue in the public consciousness. Lawn signs, t-shirts, buttons, stickers and car magnets are all available. Contact us and we’ll deliver to you.

Help us keep pressure on the current leadership of Northfield. We need a new plan.

Stay engaged. We have been so impressed by the number of people who have shared their ideas and shown their support.

  1. Let the Village Board of Trustees know how you feel or ask your questions by emailing vgroup@northfieldil.org. Even if you have done this before, keep asking questions and voicing opposition.

  2. Email noroundaboutinfo@gmail.com if you wish to ask a question, share an idea or get involved.

  3. Make a donation to help fund the opposition campaign. Email us at noroundaboutinfo@gmail.com for payment options.

Information Center

Supporting documents dating back to the 2016 start of this project are available here: https://happroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2021.03.25-envrpt.pdf

On August 20, residents and business owners attended the Village Committee of the Whole Meeting and Village Board Meeting to ask questions and express concerns. Listen to the audio recordings and read the minutes here: https://il-northfield.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter

Thank you to everyone who showed up for the standing-room-only special board meeting on September 11. For those of you who couldn’t be there, or had to leave early, please watch the video recording here.

For reference, here are the presentation slides from the Sept. 11 meeting. This summarizes the plans as they stand today.

See North Shore Record story posted afterward. Outspoken residents may have effected change for Northfield’s Happ Road

More about roundabouts

The roundabout

    • Will create a constant flow of traffic (no stop signs) resulting in 10 individual lane crossings. That’s a lot of trust in cars yielding to pedestrians.

    • Will create a larger footprint than the existing intersection, consuming valuable parking spaces, which will harm our local businesses and destroy our small-town feel.

    • Is too close to Willow Rd intersection. What will happen when Willow Rd traffic backs up into the roundabout? Gridlock!

    • Is uncommon and unpopular in our area and will cause people to avoid downtown Northfield rather than attract them, again hurting local businesses. 

Roundabouts in general are:

  • Intended to reduce speeds where traffic needs to transition from a high speed limit. That is not our situation.

  • Effective at keeping heavy traffic flowing. Northfield does not have heavy traffic.

  • Keep traffic continually moving. But we want to encourage pedestrian crossings, and we have business establishments on every leg of the roundabout. Business traffic and a walkable shopping district will be hurt.

  • Intended to reduce vehicle crash incidences, but data shows that there are few crashes at the Happ Rd./Orchard Ln. intersection. 

    There are few roundabouts in Northern Illinois (IDOT)

    • IL 58 at Wolf Rd/State St/Broadway St (Des Plaines, Cook)

    • IL 47 at Plato Rd (Plato Twp, Kane)

    • IL 47 at Burlington Rd (Campton Hills, Kane)

    • US 20 at Harmony Rd (Coral Rwp, McHenry)

    • US 20 at Marengo-Beck Rd/South Union Rd (Union, McHenry)

    • IL 23 at WB I-90 Ramps (Marengo, McHenry)

    • IL 2 at Auburn St (Rockford, Winnebago)

    • U.S. 6 at IL 178 (Utica, LaSalle) 

Elgin is removing roundabouts. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/08/27/elgin-crews-tear-up-controversial-turning-circle-to-restore-four-way-intersection-in-historic-district/

Here are some of the ways roundabouts can be dangerous.

More on the center turn lane

The center turn lane

    • Will make turning left into residential driveways hazardous (center turn lanes are for commercial streets, not residential)

    • Will result in higher speeds of travel due to extra road width

    • Turn Happ Rd into an artery, hurting residents’ property values

    • Takes away land from residents on Happ Rd.

Additional arguments against the center turn lane include:

  • Happ Rd already has a center turn lane in the shopping district.

  • South of there is all residential. There are 16 driveways on the east side of the road, 6 driveways on the west side, one full intersection (Harding Rd) and one half intersection (Holder Ln).

  • There are no long wait times while residents turn into their driveways. 

  • There is not a high rate of vehicle crashes.

  • The turn lane forces a pedestrian crossing “island”, which in turns blocks access to some east-side driveways for southbound travel. 

  • New crash potential is created at multiple points if residents are turning left from opposite directions into their respective driveways. Below are the residential driveways that would risk collision when turning left (northbound) with their neighbors across the street who might be simultaneously turning left (southbound) into their own driveways.

    • 111 and 119 Happ across from The Landmark entrance

    • 131 and 139 Happ across from 144 Happ

    • 165 across from 166 Happ

    • 173 Happ across from the south entrance to Colonial Ln

    • 175 and 179 Happ across from the main entrance to Colonial Ln

    • 217 Happ across from Holder Ln

      Note that 207, 209 and 211 driveways will have their southbound left turns into their driveways blocked by a center lane pedestrian crosswalk island!