Fence 'Destroyed' Along State Road In Darien

DARIEN, IL – Much of the fence along a curve in a state road in Darien continues to be a problem, a Darien official said Monday.

Alderwoman Mary Sullivan had good news about the narrow area between North Frontage Road and the Cass Avenue ramp to southbound Interstate 55: A state contractor recently cleared it.

"The bad news is it just highlights the destruction of the fence that is just getting more and more destroyed," Sullivan said at a City Council meeting.

She said city officials continue to plead with the state Department of Transportation to repair the fence. And she said she has reached out to local state legislators about the issue.

"There are many areas along Frontage Road North and South that need repair, but it's most impacted in that curve area, which hopefully will be (where) the curve construction project takes place in 2024," she said. "I just want to assure residents that we are doing everything we can."

The sharp curve on North Frontage Road is seen as a problem. It may have been a factor in a 2021 fatal crash.

Early the morning of Sept. 27, 2021, a passerby saw a motorcycle in a ditch between North Frontage Road and the Cass Avenue ramp to southbound Interstate 55. As it turned out, a man and a woman died in a crash.

They were believed to have been heading east on North Frontage Road about 14 hours earlier.