The Sight Line Project

The Village of Lincolnshire is well known for its aesthetic beauty. Because of the very serious protection of natural vegetation by the Community Development Department, many who visit our Village are struck by the natural beauty of our community. There are some drawbacks to maintaining a heavily wooded environment. While we enjoy the character of our community and it’s natural beauty, we must also take into consideration factors which are negatively affected by these characteristics, such as traffic safety. One of the more serious considerations that concerns the Village is the maintenance of adequate intersections’ Sight Lines.

What is a Sight Line?
When was the last time that you pulled up to an intersection, only to find that it was blocked by something making it very difficult to safely move. Maybe you were at the shopping mall and a car or truck was unloading nearby - right in your line of sight! Or rush hour traffic was backed up in such a way that you closed your eyes and hoped for the best when you pulled across two lanes of traffic. Those situations are Sight Line obstruction issues. A temporary situation, but still a major concern to your safety.

Every roadway and intersections have Sight Lines. That is the imaginary line that is formed when a driver looks down the roadway, and more importantly, in the area around intersections. It is critically important that a driver have an unimpeded Sight Triangle (the triangular area formed by the intersection of the sight lines at an intersection) in order to be able to safely react to a potential hazard which may present itself. The faster a car travels, the longer the Sight Lines need to be.

The Sight Line project grew out of concerns expressed by residents and visitors alike about the inability for motorists to clearly see potential hazards as they traveled through the streets of Lincolnshire. Based upon exhaustive research, guidelines for the Sight Line program were established. The Village Board also modified and enacted ordinances which are meant to fairly address the issue of sight obstructions on our Village streets.