DuPage Co. death leads to safety improvements

Gary Muehlfelt hopes never to hear another rescue call like the one that went out June 12.

A bicyclist, John Rigdon, was hit - and killed - while trying to get to the Illinois Prairie Path along Pleasant Hill Road in an unincorporated area near Wheaton.

There's no sidewalks at that location, so getting to the popular bike and walking path is often treacherous.

Last month, though, Muehlfelt, the Milton Township highway commissioner, was able to start the first phase of a project that will connect sidewalks from Jerome Avenue, where they previously ended, to the Prairie Path.

That offers a small measure of peace to Lori DeMarke, Rigdon's sister, who's lobbied since the Carol Stream man's death to improve safety along the roadway. The cyclist was following the same route he did every day on his way to work before the accident.

Muehlfelt called DeMarke recently to let her know crews were starting the work.

"We were thrilled," she said. "It gave us a little bit of a bright spot for Thanksgiving."

Immediately after Rigdon's death, DeMarke and her family began passing around petitions calling for safety improvements in the area, eventually submitting over 500 signatures to city, township and county officials. While they'd initially asked for a bicycle lane along the road, and a push-button light for crossing, officials told them those choices were either too labor- or cost-prohibitive.

Then they asked if a sidewalk would help.

The distance between the existing end of the sidewalk on the east side of Pleasant Hill Road to the Prairie Path is about 1,100 feet. Muehlfelt said that thanks to a state grant, he was able to save enough from last year's paving program - about $18,000 - to finish about 450 feet of that work.

"I promised Lori and her family that I was committed to looking into it," Muehlfelt said.

While the job's not done, "it's a start," he said

Now he's hoping for a mild winter, one without exorbitant road salt bills, so he can tackle the remainder of the distance next spring. That, he said, will depend on next year's finances.

The township already paid this year to have all the engineering work for the sidewalk done. Officials just have to install it. Overall, the total cost is estimated at between $80,000 and $90,000.

"I'm gonna try everything possible to do this next year," Muehlfelt said.

DeMarke said what's happened already offers some relief in an otherwise difficult holiday season.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=210755">After loss, Carol Stream family wants path safety <span class="date">[06/21/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com">Wheaton parks official sought path at site of fatal bike accident <span class="date">[06/14/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=206622">Cyclist killed near Wheaton <span class="date">[06/12/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>