Safe passage
If you’ve ever traveled Roosevelt Road, notably as it bisects Wheaton, Glen Ellyn and Lombard through the heart of DuPage County, you know how busy it is almost all of the time.
It’s not just the people cutting through these towns to get to somewhere else. There is a great deal of commerce on both sides of Roosevelt Road, along with apartments, restaurants and a high school. Some 25,000 cars a day drive past St. Francis High School at Roosevelt just east of County Farm Road.
Across Roosevelt Road from the high school is a shopping center with a Target, a Starbucks, fast food places and pharmacies.
So you can imagine the level of foot traffic along the road and crossing it: from students heading to class as well as people heading to the stores from nearby apartment complexes, including Marian Park where Chantise Davis lives with her mom, Debbie Suggs. They’ve been living at Marian Park for 50 years and have seen their share of people falling prey to Roosevelt traffic.
The pair and other concerned residents have formed a group that is lobbying for a traffic light and crosswalk at Roosevelt Road near the high school.
There have been a number of fatal and injury-causing crashes over the years that have alarmed residents. “Just walking to get groceries can be life-threatening,” Davis told our Marni Pyke. “It’s very dangerous to cross.”
Suggs said she was nearly hit by a car a couple of years ago. She’s frustrated by the fact nothing has been done yet.
“It makes us feel like we don’t matter. And we know we matter,” she said.
The Illinois Department of Transportation already has studied the area and determined that a traffic light there is warranted. But it’s up to the City of Wheaton to decide whether to do it.
We don’t pretend to know all that goes into a municipality’s decision on whether to fund a new traffic light, but we know other towns faced with similar situations have gone to much greater and more expensive lengths to keep pedestrians safe.
Pedestrian bridges have gone up or are proposed in a number of suburbs where crossing the road is a risky proposition.
City Manager Michael Dzugan said an in-depth traffic study is being conducted and a report is likely in March. And state Sen. Seth Lewis is seeking a state grant to help pay for the signal.
The neighbors aren’t looking for a pricey bridge, mind you, just something that will stop traffic so they can cross safely. It’s not just for the St. Francis students but older adults who walk to the stores.
We encourage the city of Wheaton to find a way to give these people some relief and safe passage. As Suggs points out the people who live nearby matter.