2 More Crashes At Elmhurst Intersection

ELMHURST, IL – Residents near Columbia and Kenilworth avenues in northeast Elmhurst want a stop sign there.

Over the summer, the two aldermen from northeast Ward 3, Michael Bram and Chris Jensen, asked for the city to install stop signs at the intersection.

But a City Council committee delayed action, saying it wanted to wait for a traffic study for that area of town.

In recent weeks, resident Jessica Pliskie, who lives near the intersection, has given information to Patch about two crashes at Columbia and Kenilworth.

During trick-or-treating hours on Halloween, she said, two cars crashed. No one was injured, but one car was pushed onto the sidewalk, she said.

"Kids were walking around the car on the sidewalk to trick or treat! Disappointed in the committee," Pliskie said in an email. "Kids could have been right there."

Another crash occurred about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, according to police records. Pliskie took photos.

"Honestly, two accidents in one month after residents pushed for a stop sign, it’s just negligence," she said in an email to Patch.

She said the city needs to put up a stop sign and prioritize pedestrian safety over traffic flow.

"The city cares enough about safety to protect its own employees with a speed bump behind city hall, but they won’t put a stop sign at a school bus stop," Pliskie said.

The intersection now has yield signs on Columbia.

In a memo in June, Jensen and Bram said they wanted to replace the yield signs with stop signs. They noted talk among city officials about such replacements all over town.

At a public works committee meeting in late June, the police department reported two crashes have occurred at Kenilworth and Columbia in the last five years.

In September 2022, a driver failed to yield and crashed, an incident which was considered correctible, Police Chief Michael McLean told the committee. He said both cars stopped, but they were confused about who would go first, with one driver on the phone.

The other crash was in April, with a driver sideswiping a parked car's mirror, McLean said.

Committee members, though, said they preferred waiting for a traffic study of the city before approving a stop sign at the intersection. The city is planning neighborhood studies around town.

One alderman on the committee said that if the city acted now, it would be confusing to reverse the stop sign decision a year or two down the road.