The two Will County Board members representing Crete say they want to reduce potential dangers from a notorious intersection before a county dog park opens nearby.
Bob Howard, D-Beecher, said he is talking to state legislators, and Judy Ogalla, R-Monee, intends to talk to her state and local contacts about the intersection of Illinois Route 394 and Burville Road.
Howard and Ogalla, who also serve as Will County Forest Preserve District board members, spoke Friday following a groundbreaking for a 9-acre off-leash dog park scheduled to open in 2017.
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That event, approximately 3 1/2 miles southeast of downtown Crete, took place approximately 100 yards from the intersection, where trucks and cars regularly collide, sometimes with fatal results.
In February 2014, a 29-year-old woman died after the vehicle she was driving collided with a truck at the intersection. In May 2015, a 73-year-old passenger in a vehicle was killed in a two-vehicle crash there.
More than 1,000 supporters have signed an online petition calling on the state Department of Transportation to install a traffic light at the intersection, located a half-mile south of the Route 394 and Exchange Street intersection, which has a traffic signal. The petition argues that many of the crashes occur because the half-mile stretch of Burville Road east of Route 394 is used as a shortcut.
“This is bad; this is a bad intersection,” Howard said. “The problem is lobbyists for the trucking industry fight any attempt to control traffic. This should be a limited-access roadway. It’s way too dangerous.”
Ogalla agreed, but acknowledged, “(Route) 394 is a highway. You can’t have a stoplight every three miles.” Funding is also an issue, she said.
Ralph Schultz, the Forest Preserve District’s chief operating officer, said he’s concerned about safety, but his influence is limited to forest district holdings. “When it comes to roadways, we leave it to people who have jurisdiction.”
Schultz and others acknowledged a long-range plan that would turn that section of Burville Road into a cul-de-sac might be the solution.
But Ogalla said a better approach might be to establish the connection of Route 394 and Burville near the dog park as right turn in and out only. That would reduce some of the traffic, while not interfering with first-responders, she said.
The new dog park, which is also part of the access area to the 455-acre Plum Valley Preserve, is a move to accommodate eastern Will County residents who often feel neglected by the Joliet-based county government, said forest district commissioners Bob Howard of Beecher and Judy Ogalla of Monee, who spoke at the groundbreaking.
“Everyone up north talks about dog parks. They love ’em,” Ogalla said, predicting the facility 30 yards east of the intersection of Route 394 and Burville Road “will be a great success.”
Howard agreed. “This dog park means a whole lot to a lot of people,” he said. Acknowledging the forest district’s experience with the five other dog parks, he added, “The Forest Preserve District has got it right.”
Dennis Sullivan is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.