Owners fear accidents at dog park by Rt. 31

When 10-year-old Zach prances and 4-year-old Mya takes off running, Kurt Eshelman knows his golden retrievers are happy.

This is what brings the retired Elgin man to Fox River Bluffs Forest Preserve West in St. Charles Township nearly every day. It's one of the few places his pets are allowed to roam free, without the hindrance of a leash.

"Zach prances around like one of those trotting horses, and when he does that he's in seventh heaven," Eshelman said Thursday. "And Mya? She just starts to run like the wind. And when you look at her you know she's running for the spirit of the life in her, for the love of it."

The problem, Eshelman said, is the park's proximity to Route 31 -- a sometimes bustling thoroughfare that runs north and south along the west side of the 66-acre preserve overlooking the Fox River. Several dogs, including Mya, have darted into traffic and been struck by passing vehicles there lately, and at least one pup was killed.

Kane County Forest Preserve officials, who manage the site, acknowledge accidents involving dogs have become more common as more pet owners have begun frequenting the park. But they say there isn't much to be done at this point, with a bridge coming to link both sides of the Fox River at Red Gate Road, across the road from the dog park.

"Part of the problem is some of that land will go for the Red Gate crossing," and its difficult to gauge how that will affect the preserve "until we find out when the bridge is going in there," district Finance Director Bob Quinlan said.

"We haven't made any plans to do any changes yet, but we're working on it (by) studying best locations and how to make it safer. By its very nature, at some point, it has to be enclosed."

Preserve officials were unable to quantify exactly how many accidents involving pets have taken place, largely because few of them are ever reported to police. Quinlan also pointed out the area has experienced growth, including the addition of St. Charles North High School at Red Gate Road and Route 31, since the park was established in the 1980s.

Eshelman, a former water plant supervisor for the city of Elgin, has offered a few suggestions to enhance safety and contacted state transportation officials about better signage on Route 31. He recommends possibly moving the preserve parking lot -- often filled to the point that people park along the roadway -- farther back into the park, or putting up a "nonobtrusive" barricade to help prevent dogs from bolting onto the road, just like Mya did on March 7.

Eshelman said he was loading Zach into his vehicle when he heard a horn honk. Mya returned to him a few seconds later, visibly upset, and was later determined to have been hit by a school bus.

After $2,000 in surgery to repair a torn hind ligament, Mya is back to her old self again. But Eshelman knows of at least one puppy -- a chocolate Labrador -- that wasn't so lucky, and has heard of numerous other "close calls." He said any dog's safety is ultimately the responsibility of its owner, but he hopes the forest preserve district will nonetheless take new steps for the sake of the animals.

"A lot of dog owners at this park would like to see a fence go up, but that's kind of in direct conflict with the whole idea of forest preserves and open park space areas," he said. "I think if (preserve officials) had to do it again, they probably wouldn't put a dog park right next to a highway.

"But it's there now."