This Darien Intersection Is Considered Unsafe: Alderman

DARIEN, IL — A Darien alderman says he wants to get a group together to find a way to make the intersection of Cass Avenue and South Frontage Road safer. On Monday, Alderman Tom Chlystek told the City Council that he was running by the intersection and saw crosses. Afterward, he sought a Darien police report for a late May accident at that intersection.

In the early evening of May 31, Gina C. Pisano, 31, of Oak Lawn, who was riding a motorcycle, collided with a pickup truck, according to a police report. She died shortly afterward.

Chlystek said the Darien intersection is shared with DuPage County.

"I was thinking of putting a group together with DuPage County and really looking at that intersection. It's only going to get busier," he said. "That intersection is not safe."

He noted that the council approved a warehouse near that intersection a few years ago, which he said would worsen the traffic situation there.

"A few years ago, there was a big vote for the warehouse to go in, and one of my biggest concerns is traffic increases will cause a problem," Chlystek said in an email to Patch. "One resident at the meeting said there more than likely (would) be a fatality... The warehouse is built, but not operating yet, so I see it getting worse" once all the more than 30 bays have semi-trucks coming in.

At Monday's meeting, Michael Coren, the city's treasurer, said the recent death could not be attributed to the warehouse since it just found a tenant. With more development, he said, more fatalities are always more likely. Before Darien was founded a half century ago, Coren said, there likely were no fatal accidents.

Alderwoman Mary Sullivan said the traffic has increased at Cass and South Frontage because many more people are visiting the nearby Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve. They are seeking outdoor recreation in a time when many are staying home because of the pandemic, she said.

If some type of traffic study were done, she said, it should be all-encompassing and include the areas of North Frontage Road, near where the Carmelite facilities are. "There are many crosses there," she said.