Wheaton traffic court moving to DuPage courthouse

The Wheaton traffic court is moving next month to where some say it should have been all along - the DuPage County courthouse.

Three first-floor rooms at the courthouse building, 505 N. County Farm Road, are being converted into a courtroom that will replace the traffic court currently located in the neighboring county administration building. The new courtroom is scheduled to open Jan. 4.

"It never really made sense to me why we had the traffic court across the courtyard from the actual courthouse," said county board member Jim Healy, who is chairman of the county's public works committee.

Healy said officials had considered moving the traffic court "for quite some time" when DuPage Chief Judge Kathryn E. Creswell in August called for increased security at all four field court sites in Downers Grove, Addison, Glendale Heights and Wheaton.

Relocating the Wheaton traffic court to the courthouse will address those security concerns. It also frees up needed office space in the county administration building at 421 N. County Farm Road.

"We have space needs for the department of (community) services," Healy said. "So the moment the courtroom is out of there, we're going to jump ... and install the cubicles."

Having traffic court at the courthouse also clears up some confusion.

"People are constantly walking around that building (the courthouse) trying to find traffic court," Healy said.

He said no one could properly explain why traffic court was in the administration building in the first place.

"It was just something that they did one time and, for some reason, it ended up staying there," Healy said.

Meanwhile, the county's busiest field court location - American Legion Post 80 on Saratoga Avenue in Downers Grove - is getting security upgrades to make it safer. It's getting secure doors, additional outside lighting and other changes.

The other two field courts - Addison and Glendale Heights - are in village halls.