Patience Runs Short On Darien Intersection

DARIEN, IL — Darien resident Charles Fischer is among the residents leading the effort calling for safety improvements at Cass Avenue and South Frontage Road. He is running short on patience.

In an email to a DuPage County official this week, Fischer said he and credentialed engineers had written to the county repeatedly for nearly 2½ years.

He again pointed to what he saw as the basic issue at the intersection: Semi-trucks that exit from northbound Interstate 55 onto southbound Cass Avenue must perform three immediate lane changes across Cass to turn left on South Frontage to access the Sterling Bay warehouse.

Fischer's email was addressed to county traffic engineer Bill Eidson.

"Although we have asked you many times to respond to this issue, your responses are consistently obfuscating and continue to keep people on this section of roadway in danger," Fischer said.

He said the lack of response by the county, the state and Darien is similar to the U.S. EPA's handling of cancer-causing pollution from the Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook.

Fischer also said the government has been negligent with the local intersection, so it would be responsible and liable for crashes there.

He promised to share his records with lawyers involved in lawsuits as a result of crashes at the intersection.

"Let’s just hope that no accidents occur with one of the 26 school buses that use this section of roadway every weekday during the school year," Fischer said.

As for Darien, he said city officials ignored engineers who found flaws in Sterling Bay's traffic study before the City Council approved the warehouse three years ago.

Last month, Eidson said the county would study the traffic flow from Cass Avenue and South Frontage Road to Cass Avenue and 91st Street.

At least two major motorcycle crashes have occurred at Cass and South Frontage since last year.

On May 31, 2020, Gina C. Pisano, 31, of Oak Lawn, who was riding a motorcycle, collided with a pickup truck, according to a police report. She died shortly afterward.

A few months ago, the Darien city government released a report that it said showed the two motorcycle crashes appeared to have been the result of poor judgment.

Residents calling for improvements say they expect the situation to worsen when Sterling Bay reaches full capacity.

In an interview, Darien Alderman Tom Chlystek, who has expressed concern about the intersection, said he received Fischer's latest email and agreed with much of it. He said he wanted to see what the county's study finds.

Eidson couldn't be reached for immediate comment.