Pulte’s Answer to Traffic Concerns

During the West-Win HOA meeting, when questioned about the impact the development would have on traffic along Purnell Road, Pulte representatives made two points to support their plan:

First, Pulte representatives are attempting to present this project as “targeting” an older demographic who they believe will primarily travel during off-peak hours. Please do not mistake this for senior housing. The company has offered no intention of marketing this project as an age-qualified development. Rather, they claim that because the home floor plans offered in the development will have main-level master bedrooms and lawn care will be included, it will be largely seniors who buy them.

Of course, surely some of the buyers will be seniors. And some of those seniors will, in fact, regularly drive on Purnell Road during peak hours. And some buyers will not be seniors, and will regularly drive on Purnell Road during peak hours.

The available floor plans in the development will have two to four bedrooms, and two to three car garages. If Pulte was truly targeting a senior demographic for the development, there would be no available options for four-bedroom floor plans, period.

Pulte has used this vague reference to senior housing previously, likely assuming it will limit opposition and help gain approval for their projects. They also indicated they were targeting “older individuals” (see line 4 in the Chicago Tribune article linked below) with their controversial development on the Loretto Convent property in Wheaton, which was approved in 2017:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-wheaton-convent-development-0319-20170317-story.html

Second, Pulte representatives referenced a traffic study for Purnell Road that they thought might have been conducted in 2016 which recorded traffic volume at approximately 5,300 cars per day along Purnell. When pressed on the topic, a representative indicated that Pulte team members have not looked directly at traffic themselves.

Assuming a traffic study was completed for Purnell Road in 2016, we have been unable to locate it. However, anyone who lives along Purnell or who travels Purnell regularly is likely to agree that traffic volume has grown considerably along this roadway since that time.