Green Arrows Coming To Stoplight At Ridge Avenue And Lake Street

EVANSTON, IL — A new traffic pattern is coming to Ridge Avenue next week aimed at increasing safety and reducing the number of crashes, city officials announced. Left turn arrows from Ridge Avenue will be added at its intersection with Lake Street. Starting Wednesday, it will function similarly to the existing configurations at Ridge's intersections with Main and Oakton streets.

Northbound and southbound traffic will be allowed to flow in one direction at a time and the other direction will have to stop. There will be no changes to eastbound and westbound traffic on Lake Street.

The new traffic pattern is being put in place on a trial basis, and the city plans to reevaluate it next year before anything is changed permanently.

The move follows the reduction of the speed limit on Ridge from 30 to 25 mph last month. According to the city, police continue to "encourage behavior changes" by focusing on speeding, distracted driving, breaking traffic laws and seat belt violations.

Later this spring, city workers will continue checking the visibility of traffic signals to see if further tree trimming is needed to maintain a clear line of sight with the signals, which lack mast arms to extend over the road.

MORE: City Staff Recommend Changes To Ridge Avenue Corridor