No sidewalks yet, but Barrington addressing safety concerns near school

Barrington residents who asked for a sidewalk in their neighborhood will instead get stop signs and crosswalk restriping to address their safety concerns, village officials said.

The residents approached the village board recently, saying a stretch of Bryant Avenue has become dangerous for students walking to and from nearby Roslyn Road Elementary School.

Bryant has no sidewalks between Northwest Highway and Roslyn Road.

Deputy Village Manager Marie Hansen said sidewalk installation there is included in the village’s long-range improvement plan and will be reviewed as the village moves forward with capital work.

But for now, the intersection of Bryant Avenue and Roslyn Road will be converted to a three-way stop, said Jennifer Tennant, the village’s director of development services. There is only one stop sign there now.

The village’s public works department also will be restriping all the crosswalks in the area, Tennant said.

The village will continue to explore possible funding options for additional work in the area, she added. One possibility is the Safe Routes to School program, which offers funding to make walking and bicycling to schools safer for students.

Improvements in the area pose an engineering challenge because the road does not have a storm sewer or curbs, Hansen said.

“So everything just kind of drains into ditch lines on either side of the roadway,” she said. “So when we look at any sort of surface improvement within the right of way, we have to navigate how those ditches and water flow will be rerouted.”

szalusky@dailyherald.com