By Jason Crane –
The North Aurora Village Board listened to seven residents Monday concerned about motorists speeding in their neighborhood off of Deerpath Road.
Nick Dalo who expressed concerns about motorists speeding at a meeting six months earlier was the first speaker. He said even with the Village changing the speed limit to 25 and giving out numerous tickets, that has not been enough to condition drivers to obey the speed limit.
Dalo said the North Aurora Police study “saw 135,534 cars travel one-way down Westover Road going Eastbound. We can assume almost double that by adding Westbound travelers.
“You can calculate the average was 2,400 to 3,400 cars per day that traveled down Westover Road which is extremely high for a residential street.
“They say five percent of the 135,534 cars do 30 miles per hour or less, that would be 6,770 cars traveling over 30 miles per hour.
“According to the report in the Fall, they had 51 hours of detail, they wrote 39 warnings and six tickets. So they cited 45 people of the 6,770 cars for .66 percent of speeders. How can that affect the behavior of 2,400 to 3,400 cars per day down our street? That is not educating them.
“The police reports conducted have indicated that 95 percent of the people drive 30 miles per hour or under,” he said.
Village administrator Steve Bosco said, “Westover is currently the only collector street between Deerpath into any of the Western subdivision.
“Almost all of the remaining people in the speeding category were between 26 and 30 miles per hour. Only 4 or 5 percent are going 31 miles per hour or more.
“Yes they may be going 1 or 2 miles over but would a police officer pull someone over for going 1 over the speed limit?
Bosco said Village employees are looking into installing solar speed signs.
• Trustee Mark Gaffino expressed interest in the Village keeping a 2006 Chevy Silverado, 2500 HD, extended cab, ¾ ton 4×4 pick-up truck instead of purchasing a 2019 Ford F-250 from Landmark Ford in Springfield. The 13-year-old truck has approximately 65,000 miles on it.
He said, “My only concern is it’s low miles, 65,000. If there’s no issues with it, it’s kind of a shame to get rid of it and spend $34,000.”
The Board agreed to see if they can keep and use the truck.