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Naperville police watching for street racing on 95th

It's been less than a month since the new 95th Street bridge opened between Naperville and Bolingbrook and neighbors say they're already noticing a trend of some drivers using the road as a speedway.

Jim Churchman lives on Timber Creek Lane slightly northwest of the new bridge over the West Branch of the DuPage River, and he said he's seen street racers invade 95th Street in the afternoon and evening, speeding over the bridge in one direction, then pulling a U-turn and dashing back over the opposite way.

"I'm concerned about the fact that if we don't do something there to mitigate this newfound habit, then it will become a safety issue," Churchman said.

95th Street was extended from its former end near Eagle Brook Lane to connect with Kings Road in Bolingbrook in the first phase of a roughly $30 million project led by the Will County Department of Highways. The new stretch of road has a sidewalk and a bike path along with two lanes of traffic in each direction separated by a median.

Churchman said many drivers are using the road for its intended purpose of reducing the travel distance from 95th and Plainfield/Naperville in Naperville to Boughton and Kings roads in Bolingbrook. But others are racing at dangerous speeds through a formerly wooded area where deer still roam.

"If you take the combination of deer and street racers and the two of those mix, I would offer to you that the outcome is not one that we would desire," Churchman told city council members last week. "What's more concerning is there are law-abiding citizens using the road as intended and these street racers are weaving in and out of them."

Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall said his force is taking steps to decrease street racing over the bridge. So far, he said, officers have written two speeding tickets on the new stretch of road: one for a driver traveling 71 mph in a 40 mph zone and the other for a driver going 61 mph.

"We're on this," Marshall said. "Our officers will be out there."

The Naperville and Bolingbrook police departments and the Will County Sheriff's Department split jurisdiction in the area. Will County covers the area immediately east and west of the river, while Naperville controls the stretch to the northwest and Bolingbrook's territory is to the southeast. Once jurisdiction was established, Marshall said he gave maps to patrol officers who will be watching the road during the times Churchman said he's noticed street racers - after school and in the evening.

"Our beat officers as well as our traffic team take this very seriously when we hear that speeds are getting up to close to 100 mph. Obviously that's very dangerous," Marshall said. "So we're going to put a stop to that."

The 95th Street project will continue next year with intersection improvements to add extra turn lanes at 95th and Plainfield/Naperville Road, extend sound walls and upgrade traffic signals. Work is expected to conclude by summer 2016.

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