After Fatalities, Niles Reconsiders Sidewalk Funding Priorities

NILES, IL — Village officials are reconsidering sidewalk engineering priorities following the death of the third pedestrian to be fatally struck by a car since December, Pioneer Press reported. Village Manager Steve Vinezeano told the Niles Herald-Spectator the village had been planning on designing a sidewalk for an area along Golf Road with no sidewalks on either side of the street before the most recent death.

On March 10, a 61-year-old woman was struck and killed in the 8600 block of Golf Road near Greenwood Drive, with a half-mile from her home in an area of unincorporated Maine Township near the borders of Niles and Glenview.

The village manager estimated the total project cost for the village could run about $2 million, not including grant funding, and require easements and the acquisition of Golf Road property, according to Pioneer Press. The village had already budgeted for the necessary engineering work prior to its most recent pedestrian fatality, Vinezeano explained. Niles Mayor Andrew Przbylo told the Herald-Spectator people are "less likely to get hit by a car" if they have sidewalks.

Prior to this month's fatal collision on Golf Road, Niles pedestrians were killed on Dec. 27 in the area of Greenwood Avenue and Betty Terrace and on Dempster Street at Western Avenue on Jan. 25.

Maine Township Highway Commissioner Walter Kazmierczak told the Herald-Spectator it was too expensive to build sidewalks along Golf Road. If it did, the township "probably wouldn't have any money left for salaries." With one of the state's largest unincorporated areas, the township manages nearly 22 miles of road, about 100 streets and "untold numbers" of sidewalks, according to its website.

More than five years ago, the village hired an engineering consultant to create a bicycle and pedestrian plan. It analyzed Illinois Department of Transportation data from 2007 to 2011 and found four fatal pedestrian crashes during that period. When it examining annual crash rates between 2008 and 2012, it found Niles had a pedestrian fatality rate and bicycle crash rate of more than twice the suburban Cook County averages.

The plan found Niles was missing sidewalks on 13 percent of its roads, with more than 40 percent of those sidewalk gaps located along major streets. It recommended Niles complete its sidewalk network, making areas near schools, parks and civic institutions its first priority and roads with four lanes or more a second priority.

Read more from Pioneer Press

Earlier:

• Woman Fatally Struck While Walking Along Golf Road
• Niles Senior Fatally Struck While Crossing Dempster Street
  
• Fatal Niles Crash Was Not Hit-And-Run: Police