Burr Ridge Snubs Cook County On Safety Fix For County Road

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge resident Frank Urban told village officials last week that his daughter was hit by a car while using a crosswalk on 79th Street.

The girl's injuries were minor and the driver helped her, Urban told the Village Board.

"It could have been a pretty bad situation. It was not," he said.

Years ago, Urban said he was walking with his then-toddler son when a car turning from the Burr Oaks Glen subdivision went within 4 or 5 feet of them on the crosswalk.

"If my son had stumbled, we would have both been hit by a car," Urban said.

He pleaded for the village to take action to make the crosswalk safer, suggesting signs alerting drivers.

"I think it's a dangerous spot," he said.

79th Street is a Cook County road and is 40 mph east of County Line Road, a limit that village officials said they would like to lower.

The crosswalk leads from the Burr Oaks Glen subdivision to a trail that ends at Village Center, which is the village's version of downtown.

The Village Board agreed Burr Ridge needed to be take action. Village Administrator Evan Walter said the village plans to order two signs to alert drivers.

"If the county has a beef with it, so be it," Walter said. "It's a county road. It's a county right-of-way, but it's still our job to respond to the community. I think children being threatened by traffic is certainly one of those things."

Mayor Gary Grasso approved of that approach.

"I think the plan for what we're going to do is just kind of inform the county that's what we're going to do and don't ask for their permission," the mayor said. "We'll ask for their forgiveness if they want to yell about it."

Trustee Joe Snyder suggested installing signs with flashing lights.

Trustee Guy Franzese, who lives in the Burr Oaks Glen neighborhood, agreed that would be the best long-term solution.

A Cook County spokeswoman told Patch she would look into the matter and provide a response.