Buffalo Grove residents petition for stop light

Residents at a group of Buffalo Grove condominium buildings want a stoplight installed at the entrance to their complex where a motorcyclist was killed in May.

Mike Lechner, 23, died traveling southbound on Buffalo Grove Road after noon on May 17 when his motorcycle was hit by a vehicle exiting the Oak Creek Condominiums at Old Oak Drive.

Harold Brailove, president of Oak Creek building one, said more than 200 people in the complex's three buildings have signed a petition that calls for a stoplight at the corner.

"If there was a light on our corner that accident wouldn't have happened," Brailove said. "We're trying to put a light at the most critical spot."

Some residents at the Village Green at Arlington Club, located across Buffalo Grove Road from Oak Creek, have also indicated they would like to see a light at the corner, according to Kim Delort, a leasing consultant at the apartment development.

Meanwhile, plans have been in the works to install a light not far way from Oak Creek, at the entrance to Dominick's at 770 S. Buffalo Grove Road, near Dundee Road.

It is unlikely two stop lights would be installed less than a quarter-mile apart. Deputy Village Manager Ghida Neukirch said the Cook County highway department probably wouldn't approve the Oak Creek location.

However, the traffic volume at the entrance to Dominick's was high enough to approve a light there. In fact, a 2001 agreement among the village, grocery store and Plaza at Buffalo Grove shopping center owner Tony Ushi indicated the village desired a stop light to improve public access and safety.

A year later, construction was set to begin, but the light's $300,000 cost was higher than expected, Ushi said. That's delayed construction so far, but Ushi said Dominick's has a new cost estimate, and he expects the light to be installed by this fall.

The cost would be split between Dominick's, Ushi and the owner of the shopping center on the other side of Buffalo Grove Road.