'Deplorable' Streets In Western Springs Neighborhood: Runner

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs resident Sheila Ryden doesn't just know the streets in her neighborhood by driving. She runs on them – and has for nearly four decades.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Ryden, who lives in the 900 block of Linden Court, said the street conditions in the Ridgewood subdivision are "deplorable."

She said she runs in neighborhoods in Western Springs, La Grange and Hinsdale, among other towns. And she said she has yet to see streets as bad as those in Ridgewood, which is in the village's southwestern corner.

"It's deplorable. It's getting worse. It's not safe," Ryden said during the public comment period. "Our streets are our sidewalks. It's really hard to navigate the pavement."

The small patches that the village puts in are "very bumpy," Ryden said. "They've not been smoothed out."

She said the village sometimes puts in "nice, smooth, long patches," which are good stopgap measures until a larger project.

"I'd like to warmly invite you all to walk Ridgewood with me or run or bike," Ryden said. "Not safe at all. I have the scars to prove it."

She asked village officials to consider putting Ridgewood at the top of the list for street improvements. She thanked officials for their help with drainage work.

In response, Village President Heidi Rudolph said, "It's part of our overall infrastructure needs that we have now."

In the moment, no one took up Ryden on the offer to go around Ridgewood with her.