The Chicago Tribue reported this week that the town of Willow Springs has decided to add a traffic light and pedestrian crossing at Lyons Township high school located on Willow Springs Road.
Western Springs officials say the traffic light will make the area safer for motorists and pedestrians for both park and school traffic. A pedestrian crossing has also been installed at Mason Drive.
“It’s been a long time coming, and it is good to finally see this come to fruition,” said Village Trustee Sheila Hansen.
This isn’t the first safety initiative in Willow Springs recently. They have worked alongside the town of Lagrange to improve safety for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.
An intergovernmental agreement was signed by the two villages, the park and school districts back in November 2012 that outlined the need for the project. A traffic corridor study was also conducted from 47th Street to Adventist La Grange Hospital between the villages of La Grange, Western Springs and the school district at a shared cost of $18,500, La Grange officials said.
The total cost of the project was listed at $416,000 after bidding last fall, according to budget numbers from the village of La Grange, with $376,000 in federal Surface Transportation Program grant funding, and a $90,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The project includes reconfiguration of internal roadways and drop-off and pick-up procedures within the LTHS campus, alignment of the driveway entrances at Denning Park with the proposed signal at LTHS, installation of east-west sidewalk through Denning Park to connect to existing neighborhood sidewalk system, an enhanced crosswalk at Mason Drive and Willow Springs Road, and enhanced school speed zone signs with flashing yellow beacons, according to the proposal approved by the village of La Grange, the lead agency for the project.
It is good to see these suburban communities working together, which will hopefully prevent future accidents. I think it is interesting to see that this initiative did not include any talks about red light cameras or speed cameras that, as we all know, are scattered across Chicago.
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