Naperville board approves stop signs for Hawkweed Drive, but gate must come down first

Homeowners on Hawkweed Drive and Rosinwood Lane in the South Pointe subdivision are one step closer to seeing stop signs at their intersection after Naperville's Transportation Advisory Board approved the two-way stop recommendation on Thursday, Aug. 6.

There's a catch. The signs won't go up until a temporary gate blocking Hawkweed Drive at the Polo Club development comes down. That gate stays locked until at least one of three milestones in the 2022 Polo Club annexation agreement is reached.

What the board approved

The TAB voted to establish two-way stop control at Hawkweed Drive and Rosinwood Lane, according to a summary of the meeting generated from the city's official video. Under the plan, stop signs will be placed on Rosinwood Lane, a local street, where it meets Hawkweed Drive, which the city's Master Thoroughfare Plan classifies as a neighborhood connector.

Why the gate matters

Hawkweed Drive is a one-and-a-half-block north-south street that dead-ends today at a locked gate separating South Pointe from the Pulte Homes Polo Club development along 119th Street between Route 59 and Book Road. The 401-unit project (252 single-family homes and 149 townhouses) was approved in late 2022.

The annexation agreement requires the gate to remain until the first of three conditions is met:

Completion of the first 397 residential units of the Polo Club's initial development.
Completion of long-term 119th Street improvements.
Five years from the date of approval of the first final PUD or final subdivision plat.

Once the gate opens, Hawkweed Drive becomes a through street, giving South Pointe a third vehicular access point. The subdivision of more than 300 homes currently has only two ways in and out: Champion Drive at Route 59 and Switch Grass Lane into the High Meadow subdivision.

City staff's position

City staff from the Transportation, Engineering and Development department, along with Naperville Police and Fire, have all stated they want the road open and connected as planned. Police and Fire specifically said they do not support directing emergency vehicles over curbs during emergencies.

Staff's traffic analysis found Hawkweed Drive is unlikely to attract cut-through traffic from 119th Street because drivers would need to navigate a roundabout and make at least three turns before reaching Champion Drive. Most new traffic on Hawkweed would be South Pointe residents themselves, staff concluded.

On April 2, 2025, the Naperville City Council voted to retain the Hawkweed connection per the annexation agreement's terms, rejecting a proposal from some South Pointe residents to physically disconnect the roadway pavement and leave a 20-to-30-foot gap.

What's not yet known

Official minutes from the Aug. 6 meeting have not been posted on the city's Legistar site, and no TAB member names or vote count have been published. How close the Polo Club development is to triggering the gate's removal also remains unclear. The city has not published a current unit-completion count. Residents can request that information through the city's FOIA portal at naperville.il.us.