Hinsdale Takes Action To Make Intersection Safer For Children

HINSDALE, IL – A Hinsdale resident thanked the village for taking quick action in response to concerns raised about crossing County Line Road.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Alice Locatelli, who lives in the Woodlands neighborhood, said she and others had asked for the crosswalk to help children safely cross County Line Road at Third Street. She said residents had long sought a crosswalk.

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Residents recently gathered 54 signatures going door to door in the neighborhood.

"Literally, nobody said, 'We don't want a crosswalk here,'" Locatelli said. "Kids are crossing in streams at Third Street now, where they used to cross at First, Third and Sixth."

After talks with officials over the summer, the village has already put in a "sort of rudimentary crosswalk," Locatelli said.

Locatelli lives east of County Line Road, so a crosswalk promotes safe passage to schools on the other side and downtown events such as Uniquely Thursdays, she said.

Village Trustee Alexis Braden, who lives a block on the west side of County Line, said it's an improvement.

"For at least 14 years, we cross the road and close our eyes and hope that we don't get crashed into," she said. "The kids on the other side of County Line Road are really excited now that they can walk to visit their friends in the Woodlands."

Late last year, village officials indicated they were considering putting up flashing crosswalk beacons at County Line and Third.

At Monday's meeting, village trustees approved hiring KLOA, a Rosemont-based traffic engineering firm, to conduct traffic studies in the areas of Monroe and Oak elementary schools. The work is set to cost $65,000.

Officials said they plan to apply the lessons from those studies to other local schools.