After Glenview-area residents expressed concerns about drivers speeding on Pfingsten Road, as well as failing to stop at a flashing-signal crosswalk, a taxpayer-funded study found no serious issues with the road, elected officials were told.
The $133,700 Pfingsten Road Corridor Safety Study, conducted by Gewalt Hamilton Associates, a contractor, was approved by the Glenview Village Board in June 2024. A final report was delivered on Aug. 26.
The study was requested by village trustees after some residents raised what they perceived to be safety issues on the road, said David Just, spokesperson for the Village of Glenview.
Concerns involving existing traffic volume, speed and cars not stopping for an existing crosswalk signal were raised in 2022 when a new commercial development, Willows Crossing, was proposed for Willow Road and Pfingsten.
A number of residents opposed the project, citing increased congestion and safety impacts.Though approved by the village, the development was scrapped and plans for residential duplexes on the site passed the Village Board earlier this year with no widespread objections.
The Pfingsten Road study examined the single northbound and southbound lanes of Pfingsten between Willow Road and Lake Avenue. It looked at the number of vehicles using the road daily, five years of crash data, vehicle speeds, geometry of the road, and the number of pedestrians crossing.
The road includes entrances to the campuses of Glenbrook South High School and Glenbrook Hospital.
“We don’t have a safety problem,” Dan Brinkman, senior transportation engineer with Gewalt Hamilton, told Glenview officials. “There’s nothing jumping off the page at us that says there’s anything that needs to be done or acted on at this time.”
A state-controlled road, Pfingsten falls into the Illinois Department of Transportation’s “low safety tier,” Brinkman reported. According to the report, this designation indicates that compared to similar roads and intersections, crashes and road operations are not out of the normal range.
Anna Kim / Pioneer Press
The intersection at Willow and Pfingsten roads in Glenview is shown in this 2019 photo. (Anna Kim/Pioneer Press)
Crash data shared in the Pfingsten Road Safety Study indicates there were 300 crashes along the 1.3-mile stretch of road between 2019 and 2023, one of them involving a fatality. Just under half of these crashes occurred at Pfingsten and Willow Road.
Despite this number, the study found there were no “’hot spots’ or particular crash patterns that suggested a specific problem area or intersection,” according to the report.
In 2023, there was an average of 11,000 vehicles using Pfingsten per day, according to IDOT, the report said. Willow Road carries more than 22,000 vehicles per day, according to IDOT.
The study included two public meetings, reportedly attended by nearly 100 Glenview residents, in July and September 2024. Concerns about cars believed to be traveling above 45 mph were shared, as were statements that vehicles do not stop for flashing pedestrian beacons at crosswalks for Miller Drive and Keenan Lane, which are also school crossings, the report said.
A 15-day speed study, conducted near Glenbrook Hospital in July 2024, found the overall average speed to be between 36 and 37 mph, but speeds over 40 mph were observed, the data shows. Between July 17 and July 31, 2024, one vehicle was recorded at 87 mph, according to the report.
There was little discussion among Glenview elected officials regarding the study’s findings, but Trustee Tim Doron said he hopes the occasional high speeds can be avoided with so-called traffic calming measures on Pfingsten. Fellow trustee Adam Sidoti noted that the “wide open feel” of Pfingsten, with its wide lanes and center median—largely designed for left turns—“encourages speeding.”
“That 16-foot median just looks like a runway,” Doron said. “It’s the one, two or three idiots going 65 (mph) that I’m afraid of.”
Brinkman said the village can request certain changes to narrow the road, which could reduce speeds. Options include creating dedicated bike lanes where there are currently none and adding landscaping to the center median, Brinkman said.
IDOT would need to approve any changes, and the village would be required to maintain any landscaping that is added, he said.
“Anything that pulls the lanes together gives the person the feeling of a tighter roadway and makes them a little uncomfortable, a little more cautious,” Brinkman said. “That’s where you’re going to see more compliance with the speed limit.”
Because Pfingsten falls under IDOT’s “low safety tier.” it is unlikely the state will initiate any safety improvements “any time soon,” Brinkman said.
A portion of Pfingsten is, however, proposed for improvements.
Preliminary plans for the intersection of Pfingsten and West Lake Avenue call for creating dual left turn lanes for north and southbound traffic on Pfingsten, a new northbound right turn lane, and wider sidewalks, among other roadway changes.
The proposed project is not scheduled to begin until 2028, Just said.
