New sidewalk represents more than a simple path

To most people, it's just another sidewalk.

But for Lori DeMarke, the stretch of concrete is the culmination of a yearlong effort to make an area where her brother died safer for bicycle riders and pedestrians.

John Michael Rigdon, DeMarke's brother, was killed last June when his bicycle was struck by a car along Pleasant Hill Road in an unincorporated area near Wheaton.

The 53-year-old Carol Stream man was riding his bike toward the Illinois Prairie Path - a direct route to his job in Glen Ellyn - when the accident happened.

Within days, Rigdon's family started a campaign to convince officials that significant improvements needed to be made to the intersection of Pleasant Hill and Armbrust Avenue.

"We just felt we had to do something positive," DeMarke said Thursday. "Unfortunately, we can't have him (John) back. But we can at least try to ensure there's safe access for other cyclists and pedestrians."

The family gathered nearly 500 signatures on a petition that was submitted to various governmental entities.

When Milton Township Highway Commissioner Gary Muehlfelt inspected the area, he agreed there was "a genuine safety concern."

But it was determined that installing a bicycle lane along the road and a push-button light for a crossing might be too labor- or cost-prohibitive.

Then someone suggested a sidewalk could help.

DeMarke said her brother was riding his bike on the sidewalk until it ended roughly 1,200 feet from the entrance to the Prairie Path. He was hit while he was riding on the side of the road.

So Muehlfelt started a project to connect the sidewalk on the east side of Pleasant Hill from Jerome Avenue, where it previously ended, to the Prairie Path.

Last fall, workers installed about 450 feet of the new sidewalk. The remaining 750-foot stretch is being installed now.

Muehlfelt said the goal is to have the sidewalk completed by the end of next week.

"I feel real good that we've been able to accomplish what we have in this short period of time," he said. "I'm not a real patient person."

Overall, Milton Township's Highway Department is spending about $70,000 for the project.

"That's a lot for a township," Muehlfelt said. "But we've sucked it up. I believe in running a balanced budget. We're just going to have to do without a few things. I think it's more important to get this sidewalk in."

When the family asked that a plaque be installed in the sidewalk, Muehlfelt collected nearly $500 from other township elected officials to pay for it.

DeMarke says she's grateful the township responded the way it did.

"We thought it would take years of fighting the bureaucracy and trying to deal with all the different entities," she said. "But we are thrilled that it's been a little over a year later and they've almost got the sidewalk completed."