3 Planned Dedicated Crossings In Elmhurst

ELMHURST, IL – Aldermen on an Elmhurst committee on Monday agreed on three places for new children-friendly, dedicated crosswalks with flashing beacons.

These are places where pedestrians and bicyclists can press a button to trigger flashing lights to alert drivers to stop. One such crosswalk is at Prairie Path and York Street.

Aldermen Mike Brennan, Guido Nardini and Jacob Hill pointed to three places where they would like to see dedicated crossings – Van Buren and York streets, Spring Road and Harrison Street, and St. Charles Road and Arlington Avenue.

City staff listed all of those places as top priorities for dedicated crosswalks. The other such priority is at York and Church streets.

A dedicated crosswalk is already planned at St. Charles and Cottage Hill Avenue.

Nardini represents Ward 6, which includes York and Van Buren. He said many residents have called for a dedicated crosswalk at the intersection, which is next to a Jewel store and near schools and churches.

"It is absolutely warranted to be a priority one," Nardini said.

The intersection of Spring and Harrison is next to Eldridge Park; St. Charles and Arlington is next to Centennial Park.

"I think these are logical locations," Brennan said. "I'd hate for these things to drag out. These are high-traffic areas for kids."

Assistant City Manager Kent Johnson said the city would get "hard quotes" on the three crossings.