Slow Streets Program Will Reduce Traffic For Oak Park Pedestrians

OAK PARK, IL — The Village of Oak Park is launching its slow streets program this week in an effort to reduce traffic and speeds on four small side streets to allow space for people to bike, walk, roll, jog, and prioritize other activities safely (with social distancing). According to the village, parts of Van Buren Street, Kenilworth Avenue, Harvey Avenue and Thomas Street — roughly five miles of roadway — have been selected to serve as corridors where light interventions, including signage and barricades, are used to minimize traffic from motorists. The village board approved the temporary pilot program to run through Oct. 16.

The program is being implemented in phases to create safe pedestrian and bicycle corridors, and is part of the village's response to the coronavirus pandemic and the disruption it has created in the lives of Oak Park residents, the village said. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, residents been walking and jogging in the street more than before in an effort to maintain social distance while exercising, exposing themselves to fast-moving motorist traffic, the village added.

During the first phase, Van Buren Street will be a slow street between Kenilworth and Harvey avenues. Kenilworth and Harvey also will be slow streets for a three-block stretch between Madison and Van Buren streets in the initial phase, the village added.

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According to the village, plans call for additional phases that would expand the slow streets along Kenilworth and Harvey avenues from Van Buren Street in the south to Thomas Street in the north, with gaps near main thoroughfares such as Lake Street and Chicago Avenue, during which Thomas Street would also be designated a slow street between Kenilworth and Harvey.

• Map of the slow streets pilot program

For more information, including a FAQ and to provide feedback, visit the village's Slow Streets Pilot Program page.

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