Politics & Government

City, District 303 to Meet on Red Gate Traffic at St. Charles North

School board members critical of proposed agreement to have District 303 spend up to $250,000 of the costs of installing traffic lights, other measures at Red Gate Road and River Ridge Drive.

Representatives of the city and St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 expect to meet this week to revisit the details of a proposed agreement to split the $500,000 cost of installing traffic lights and other improvements to the Red Gate Road entrance to St. Charles North High School.

Early this month, the St. Charles City Council approved the intergovernmental service agreement to install traffic lights and turn lanes at the entrance to St. Charles North High School along Red Gate Road. But members of the District 303 Board of Education Business Services Committee red-flagged the agreement last Tuesday, instructing the administration to sit down with the city to continue discussions of the agreement.

The agreement approved by the City Council would have the city and school district split the costs of the installing where River Ridge Drive intersects from the north with Red Gate Road. The entrance to St. Charles North is the southern leg of the intersection.

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En Route to 15,000 Vehicles Per Day

District 303 Superintendent Dr. Donald Schlomann told committee members he had gone to the city about the intersection once the Red Gate Bridge was complete, significantly increasing traffic past the high school entrance. Schlomann said he went to the city purely out of consideration for the safety of the students entering and leaving the school on the suddenly much busier roadway.

The bridge opened in mid-December after 15 months of construction and 92 years of planning. Among the trumpeted benefits of the $30 million bridge is that , easing congestion on the already crowded Main Street/Route 64 bridge in the downtown.

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A little more than a week after it opened, City Administrator Brian Townsend wrote that Red Gate Bridge . He wrote in mid-April in one day.

That’s swelled traffic on Red Gate west of Route 31 — and resulted in backups along Red Gate Road before the start and at the end of school each weekday and Schlomann’s inquiries about a traffic light at the intersection.

Cost of Improvements Draw Ire

But engineering studies leading up to the construction indicated no traffic lights were warranted at the high school’s entrance, which is one of the reasons District 303 Board of Education member Jim Gaffney objects to the cost-sharing agreement.

He blamed the city for creating the traffic problem with the construction of the bridge, adding the engineers who did the traffic study before the bridge was built erred in not foreseeing the impact it would have on the school.

“Now the city asking us to pay $250,000 to fix their mistake,” Gaffney complained to the school board committee early last week. He added that had the traffic lights and lane changes being proposed for the intersection now could have been done for less money had they been incorporated into the original project.

Gaffney received some support on his position from fellow board member Nick Manheim, who said the city had money left over from the bridge project which it has begun using for other capital needs — including spending more than $1 million since December to buy two downtown buildings, one of which the city intends to demolish and use as a parking lot. The city should use the leftover funding from the ridge project to fix the problem at the high school entrance, Manheim said.

Safety Remains a Concern

Dr. Schlomann pointed out that problems at the entrance to St. Charles North High School are not entirely of the city’s making, noting the city has never appreciated the traffic flows through the campus because of the site’s design.

That’s a point City Administrator Townsend pointed out when asked about the issue Saturday, during the city’s annual Arbor Day festivities. Townsend added traffic congestion at the intersection generally is a problem only twice a day — mornings and midafternoons — on weekdays.

Still, Schlomann told the board last week he has been one of the biggest advocates of having traffic lights and other measures installed at the intersection, entirely from a concern for student safety, and said his talks with the city on the issue have reflected that.

“If we don’t do this, I feel there is a risk,” he told the board.

Townsend said the city will sit down with District 303 to hammer out a solution. Mayor Don DeWitte, also on hand for Saturday’s Arbor Day celebration, agreed.

“We’ve definitely tried to be a good partner on this issue,” DeWitte said. “I’m sure we will find an amicable solution.”

Related:

  • April 26, 2013: St. Charles Wins National Honors for Red Gate Bridge
  • April 18, 2013: St. Charles: Fox River Flood Center
  • April 17, 2013 Patch Blog: Use of Red Gate Bridge up 39% since December
  • Dec. 23, 2012 Patch Blog:
  • Nov. 28, 2012:
  • Red Gate Bridge: www.redgatebridge.org

 

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