Yorkville To IDOT: Fund Route 47 Improvements

YORKVILLE, IL — Yorkville aldermen on Tuesday voted unanimously to send a letter, signed by Mayor Gary Golinski, to IDOT urging the state to do something about Route 47, where numerous crashes have occurred in recent year north of Kennedy Road and at the Galena Road intersection.

"Between 2011 and today there have been 150 accidents reported at the intersection of IL Route 47 and Galena Road," the letter states. "Of those 150 accidents, 17 have been personal injury accidents and 1 recent accident resulted in a fatality."

The letter states that Yorkville "wishes to voice its fullest support for the intersection improvement at Illinois State Route 47 and Galena Road as well as the expansion of the Northern Illinois Route 47 corridor, and also notes, "We are aware that safety improvements were programmed for the Galena and IL Route 47 intersection in an early IDOT budget and were subsequently removed due to budget cuts. Given the recent accidents at this intersection, we would encourage those improvements to receive immediate funding while the Route 47 expansion plan is being considered for funding on a longer term."

Yorkville alderman and Public Works Committee Chairman Joel Frieders on Tuesday said the city needs speak up and demand IDOT's attention. "This is the perfect example of an area where we need to get loud," Frieders said, according to Kendall County Now.

Frieders also recently took to Facebook to voice concerns about crashes along Route 47.

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