This Darien Intersection Getting Traffic Light

DARIEN, IL — Darien aldermen on Monday approved a traffic light for Clarendon Hills Road and 67th Street.

Officials said they have been talking for years with their counterparts from Willowbrook about a traffic light.

Darien's jurisdiction makes up three-fourths of the intersection, while Willowbrook takes up the rest. Willowbrook is set to pay a quarter of the costs.

In recent months, aldermen Lester Vaughan and Tom Chlystek have called for a traffic light, citing crashes there.

Last month, Rosemont-based KLOA finished a study of the intersection. It found 59 crashes happened there between 2014 and 2021.

Of the crashes, 19 of them resulted in injuries and one a fatality. The fatal crash was a head-on collision involving a drunken driver, the study said.

Fifty-three of them were either turning or angle crashes, which could be corrected by a traffic signal or a four-way stop, according to the study.

Crashes have fallen in number in the last few years. That followed improvements made to the intersection in response to a 2019 study.

The intersection has stop signs at 67th, but not Clarendon Hills Road.

The traffic study said a light or four-way stop was not warranted.

However, a proposed agreement between Darien and Willowbrook says they have determined that a traffic signal is reasonable and in the public interest.

In an email to Patch on Tuesday, City Administrator Bryon Vana said the city can, in its judgment, install a traffic light if officials deem it appropriate.

He also noted the study said the intersection meets one standard for a traffic light — when five or more crashes have occurred in a year that can be corrected by a light. That happened in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2021.