Traffic Issues

Purnell Road is approximately 1.2 miles in length with just under 200 homes off of it. About half of those homes have an option of using Roosevelt Road as a point of ingress/egress. The other half of residences must use Purnell Road.

Purnell is a narrow two-lane road designed for low volume traffic. It is considerably hilly with poor lines of sight, especially south of Cantigny Drive. For this reason, passing is prohibited the entire length. There are no shoulders, leaving no ability to pull off the roadway or to make way for emergency vehicles. At certain points, dangerous ditches line the road. There are very few street lights and reflectors along the road. There are no sidewalks on either side of the road, forcing pedestrians, joggers and children on bicycles onto the road. Despite these hazards, the speed limit has been increased in the last few years to 40 miles per hour.

Exacerbating an already dangerous roadway, drivers utilize Purnell Road as a shortcut between Route 59 and Winfield Road on a daily basis.

Traffic counts from the Illinois Department of Transportation website show that the volume of traffic on Purnell Road increased 94% between 2012 and 2016 (the most recent year for which information is available). NINETY FOUR PERCENT. Notably, there was no development in the area during these years. Those who live off Purnell can attest that these counts have only increased since 2016.

The addition of 84 homes with ingress/egress limited exclusively to Purnell Road will intensify the following precarious conditions on Purnell Road:

• During peak hours, it is common to see traffic congestion backed up on Purnell for more than a half mile as cars queue to turn right onto Winfield Road. Ironically, these longer lines are actually LESS scary than some of the shorter lines. There is a blind hill just before the stop sign at Purnell and Winfield Road. Many near-misses have been witnessed of cars flying over that hill at a high rate of speed only to have to slam on their brakes to avoid rear-ending the last car stopped in line.

• This congestion on Purnell at Winfield Road leads to frustrated drivers turning around on Purnell to go the other way, which is quite hazardous due to the limited line of sight caused by the hills on Purnell.

• Turning left onto Winfield Road from Purnell is nearly impossible, at any time of day, which encourages traffic to divert through Phase One of Woods of Cantigny along South Cantigny Drive to avoid the dangerous left turn.

• Pedestrians and bicyclists dash across Purnell in fear as vehicles crest hills easily exceeding 55 miles per hour (despite the 40 mph speed limit) without realizing people are crossing the street just over the hill.

• Traffic regularly backs up on Garys Mill Road as vehicles attempt to turn left from Garys Mill onto southbound Route 59. There is currently no left-hand turn lane on Garys Mill at this intersection, and vehicles that would otherwise make a fairly easy right turn onto Route 59 are forced to queue for long periods behind left-turning vehicles.

Have you identified an issue with traffic related to the overuse of Purnell Road? Share it with us at StopTrilliumFarm@gmail.com.