Grant High School worries about safety of Devlin Road

This week's opening of Grant High School's new $9.7 million field house is cause for celebration on the Fox Lake campus, but administrators also have some concern.

That's because while the new building gives the school more room for its 1,800 students, officials worry at least half those students must cross busy Devlin Road every day to get to gym class.

"There is a serious safety issue whenever a village's main thoroughfare dissects a high school campus like we have here," Grant High School Superintendent John Benedetti said. "And, it's time we did something about it."

The field house is on the west side of Devlin Road, a one-time side street with a 25 mph speed limit that has attracted more traffic as motorists try to avoid the busy Route 59 and Grand Avenue intersection.

While students have had to cross the street at a two-way stop sign and a crosswalk to get to athletic fields, Benedetti said the field house will significantly increase the amount of foot traffic.

The facility is capable of hosting 2,600 people, and features three full-size basketball courts with one larger center court for varsity basketball and volleyball games.

Benedetti said he doesn't want to wait for something tragic to happen before people see the need to close Devlin. However, doing so is complicated because it is tied to the need for expensive intersection improvements at Grand and Route 59 to alleviate a bottleneck.

Marisa Kollias, a spokeswoman from the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the intersection is scheduled to be resurfaced by April 2010, but there are no plans to widen it or add left-turn lanes.

Lake County Division of Transportation Director Marty Buehler said his office tentatively plans to widen Route 59 and install turn lanes at Grand Avenue in 2015. However, because that relies on sales tax revenue in the county, which is down 25 percent, the project could be delayed or scrapped.

"We have been known to fix a state road or two where needed, but we rely on sales tax to make it happen," Buehler said. "And with sales tax down as much as it is, we aren't really sure what will happen with that intersection."

Benedetti said he has spoken with local and state elected officials, and IDOT leaders about this issue, but so far to no avail.

"IDOT said Grand and Route 59 need improvements, but they haven't done anything with it since then," he said. "I was hoping stimulus money from the federal government could be used to fix it, but that didn't happen either."

Route 59 is a two-lane highway running north and south on the east side of the Grant campus. There is a stoplight at Grand and Route 59, but the intersection does not have turn lanes. When motorists heading north on Route 59 need to turn west onto Grand Avenue, traffic often comes to a stop.

This creates a backup, Benedetti said, that becomes worse when students leave the high school parking lot onto Route 59 at the end of the day.

As a result, many motorists see Devlin Road as a short cut, Benedetti said, specifically during school hours when high school traffic is at its peak.

"Now, with the field house opening, it's going to become worse," he said. "One-half to three-quarters of the school population will cross that street to get to and from gym throughout the day. This has become a major safety issue for us."

Fox Lake Mayor Ed Bender shares the concern, and has met with Benedetti and other administrators about potential safety issues. However, he said this might be a situation he is powerless to fix.

"I was there and saw a gym class run across Devlin, and I saw the safety hazard first hand," Bender said. "The obvious solution would be to fix Route 59, then come up with something for Devlin, but funding the roadwork is definitely a problem."

The village doesn't have the money to repair state-owned Route 59, he said.

"It's a fabulous new facility and is a credit to the district for bringing this to Fox Lake," Bender said. "But it's a situation right now where we aren't sure what we can do."

Benedetti added he never thought to ask taxpayers to cover intersection improvements at Route 59 and Grand in the $30 million referendum voters approved for the field house and other school improvements in February, 2008.

"I don't think it's prudent to use taxpayer dollars designated for the school on intersection improvements," he said. "In my opinion, local and state authorities should handle it."

In the interim, Benedetti said, the district hired a firm to provide campus security, and serve as crossing guards when needed.

"It's definitely costly," he said. "Then again, when you look at what we are trying to accomplish, you can never put a price tag on safety."

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