State continues to investigate road safety
2 more people get hit on 127th Street in Blue Island
A pedestrian was struck and killed last week and a 15-yearold girl struck and injured Friday night on a stretch of 127th Street in Blue Island the state has been studying due to traffic concerns.
Police said a 46-year-old man was hit by a car at about 8 p.m. on Sept. 28 at 127th Street and Sacramento Avenue. Jose Manuelbello Medina died shortly after being taken to the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Just after 9:30 p.m. on Friday, police said a 15-year-old girl was hit at 127th Street and Highland Avenue. She was taken to the hospital, where she remained in critical but stable condition Sunday morning, police said.
Blue Island police Chief Geoffery Farr said in both instances drivers remained at the scene and neither driver appeared to be impaired. Farr did not release any other details, including the causes of the accidents, though the road has long been a sore spot for public safety advocates, who say motorists speed along 127th Street and the street lacks proper pedestrian aids such as crosswalks and sidewalks.
In April, 16-year-old girl Eisenhower High School student Shaniya Walker was hit and killed at 127th and Highland. At the time, Eisenhower Principal Eric Briseño said he had worked with the state a year earlier on a traffic safety study with few results aside from a lower speed limit and some repaired crosswalks.
The speed limit on 127th Street is 30 mph, although it drops to 20 mph during school hours. However, Briseño said in April drivers still speed to beat trains and get on the highway.
“The 20 mph isn’t honored,” he said at the time. “There are still people who speed.”
Dozens of people commented
Bogs said.
Emails from both Frankfort Mayor Keith Ogle and Mokena Mayor Frank Fleischer were read objecting to a proposal to divide the Lincoln-Way area and group them with dissimilar communities in Bertino-Tarrant’s proposal. The 13-district map fairly represents the area, which shares common community interests and a common identity through the Lincoln-Way High School District 210, they said.
“Fair maps, representation and confidence in the election process are cornerstones of our democracy,” Ogle said in his email.
An email read from the Will County Farm Bureau also it favored keeping the county divided into 13 districts so rural and unincorporated residents would have a voice. A shift to an 11-district map places urban voters in rural districts, making it difficult for rural residents and farmers to be represented, farm bureau president Steve Warrick wrote.
Other residents said they felt the 11-district map was political in nature and an effort to squeeze out Republican voices.
Residents in favor of Bertino-Tarrant’s proposal said the move to a smaller government can both save money and streamline board operations.
Sonia Jenkins-Bell, a University Park village trustee, said she is favor of the 11-district plan.
“Politicians need to know that … the people count,” she said. “And we need to watch their tax dollars and the way they’re being spent.”
Residents noted that Lake, DuPage and Cook counties have larger populations than Will County but fewer county board members.
A smaller county board moves Will County closer in line to these other counties, said Monty Jackson, the collector for DuPage Township.
Ellen Moriarty, a Homer Township resident, said she feels that the reduced size of the board makes sense and will save money.
“The census has given us the opportunity to work again for the betterment of Will County,” she said. “Let’s not squander that. The executive took great care using principled details so each district reflects their populations and they are all more equally balanced.”
She said the only reason board members would oppose the 11-district map is their own self-interest.
“There is no reason the taxpayers should want to continue with an oversized board,” Moriarty said.
Bertino-Tarrant said Tuesday that creating a map is not an easy task, but she is reaching out to mayors and others who expressed their concerns.
She said in addition to keeping each district as close to equal in population, she worked to keep municipalities intact and townships as unified as possible.
The Lincoln-Way area, for instance, is a large area both geographically and in population and is near impossible to keep together, Bertino-Tarrant said. Under her proposal, the LincolnWay area moves from having two districts to three districts, which gives it more representation, she said.
She also said farmers have had both Democrat and Republican support at the county board level, and representatives from large Will County municipalities such as Joliet, Naperville and Bolingbrook have voted in favor of agriculture-related programs and policies.
“To say their voice is going to be silenced is not accurate,” Bertino-Tarrant said.
She said the reduced size of the board will improve efficiency, streamline operations and save taxpayer money on county board member salaries, benefits, travel and other expenses.
Board member Don Gould, a Republican from Shorewood and vice chair of the reapportionment committee, said the 13-district map took input from both parties and is fair. He urged county board members to show that they are impartial, and said he does not want to see a partyline vote.
“If it comes out of this county that it’s a party-line vote, that sends the wrong message to the people of Will County,” Gould said. “We need to show the people of Will County that we can be fair and honest. That’s the kind of map we need.”