People Used To Cut Own Grass In Western Springs: Resident

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Things have changed a lot in the last decade in Western Springs, making sidewalks in the Forest Hills neighborhood all the more necessary, a resident said this week.

These days, without sidewalks, pedestrians must routinely dodge construction and landscaping trucks, said Lisa Edgerton, president of the Forest Hills Elementary School PTA.

"The construction boom in Western Springs is coupled by the fact that people used to cut their own grass at one point, I understand. That's a thing of the past, I assure you," Edgerton said. "We really need to pay attention to the fact that people cannot get around safely."

Edgerton was among a number of residents who asked the Village Board at its meeting Monday to move forward on sidewalks for the 30-block Forest Hills neighborhood on the village's western edge.

Now, Forest Hills is a patchwork of homes with sidewalks and those without.

In the spring, the village released a study that showed the sidewalk project in Forest Hills would cost $4.6 million for sidewalks on both sides of the street and $1.8 million for one side.

Also, a survey of Forest Hills residents showed that 53 percent indicated support for sidewalks in the neighborhood, while 43 percent opposed and 4 percent had no opinion.

At Monday's meeting, Forest Hills resident Rod Frazier, a leader of the sidewalk supporters, said someone described the survey results as 50-50 on sidewalks. He disagreed, saying two-thirds of opponents were against sidewalks because they didn't know what it would cost them, not that they opposed such a project.

Frazier noted that trustees asked in the spring what the next step was after the study, but they did not get an answer. He said he and fellow leader Amy Tilles are now proposing the village seek a $250,000 state Safe Routes to School grant to install sidewalks on the east side of Woodland and Grand avenues in Forest Hills. That project would mean the removal of just one tree, he said.

"It meets the community's objective of providing a safe, direct pedestrian route for the vast majority of the 46 percent of the enrolled students at Forest Hills who do not have a safe pedestrian route to school today," he said.

Time is of the essence, he said, with the grant application deadline Sept. 30, about six weeks away.

Tilles, the other leader, said she and Frazier planned to meet with Village President Alice Gallagher about the proposal Wednesday.

"If you can do one thing for us, please don't tell us what we can't do," she told the Village Board. "Let's work together to find the right solution for the community."

Gallagher seemed receptive to the proposal.

"This is not something the board has turned its back on," Gallagher said. "It is part of a larger, comprehensive infrastructure compilation that we are studying and looking for funds to commit to."

She said she would involve staff in the meeting to look at the potential of meeting the Sept. 30 deadline.

"That would be a personal goal of mine as well as our trustees, I'm sure," she said.

Besides the costs, opponents say they don't want sidewalks interrupting the flow of their yards and that sidewalks would make their neighborhood resemble Chicago.