12-Year-Old Glencoe Girl Convinces Village to Widen Path

A stretch of the Green Bay Trail near Hazel Avenue in Glencoe is much wider, and safer, than it had been before thanks to the efforts of a local 12-year-old girl.

The Glencoe News tells the story of Molly Bingham, a seventh grader at Central School who noticed potential dangers for pedestrians and bicyclists using the narrow path near her family home.

“For years, she watched bicyclists going in either direction on 5-foot-wide sidewalks, leaving walkers and others vulnerable to being hit given the narrow passage,” according to the News.

When Bingham’s younger sister came close to being in an accident at the location, she knew it was time for action. She joined her mother one day in March at the location to gather petitions from walkers to send to the Village Board to consider widening the path.

As luck would have it, one of the people strolling along that day was then-board trustee Joel Solomon. Solomon arranged a meeting for Bingham and Village Manager Phil Kiraly, who also agreed with the girl that the path should be wider.

“We wrote up this big paper and the cons of the path and what could be done to make it better,” Molly said. “We had pictures that showed the congestion...After the meeting, I felt really good that I had accomplished something.”

The village widened the concrete portion of the sidewalk to eight feet over the summer in a project that cost around $5,000.

Kiraly - impressed by the student’s initiative - honored her for her efforts at the Sept. 17 village board meeting.

“She went above and beyond to address an issue that was affecting her community and ... she took some civic-minded steps to see that the situation was resolved and worked toward a situation that made sense and made a really salient argument to me when she met with me,” he said.

more via the Glencoe News