East, West Dundee parades could be moved off Main Street
People lining up along Main Street to see floats, marching bands and other parade entries could become a thing of the past if East and West Dundee agree with a proposal being made by the two villages’ police chiefs.
The road that passes through the downtowns of both towns — Illinois Route 72 — has become too busy to safely close and reroute traffic when parades for such events as Memorial Day and Dickens in Dundee are held, officials say.
East Dundee police Chief Jim Kruger and West Dundee police Chief Anthony Gorski met with representatives from the two villages to discuss whether parade routes could be moved to neighborhood streets, East Dundee Village Administrator Erika Storlie told her village board this week.
One impetus for the recommendation was the November incident during a holiday parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, when a man deliberately drove through a barricade. Six people were killed and 62 others injured.
Such things are “rare, (but) they do happen,” Storlie said.
Beyond that, it’s difficult to shut down a major roadway used by as many as 19,000 vehicles daily, Kruger told the board.
“I understand there are a lot of feelings associated with these activities,” Storlie said. “There are activities that are sort of our hallmark, a fabric of our community. We want to ensure we are not being overly cautious but also being cautious.”
Officials want the village boards to weigh in with their thoughts on whether they’d support eliminating parades, moving them to other streets or reducing the number held on Main Street, she said.
The three major events affected by the change would be the Memorial Day parade in May, Dickens in Dundee’s Spirit of Christmas parade in December and Community School District 300’s homecoming parade in September.
East Dundee’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade used to be held on Route 72 but has been moved to neighborhood streets.
“It was pretty eye-opening what happened (in Wisconsin) last year,” Trustee Rich Treiber said. “(Route) 72 is a major road that’s hard to shut down. It’s also amplified by the amount of crazy drivers using neighborhood streets as cut-throughs to get around the shutdown.”
And there’s no real reason why parades have to be on Main Street/Route 72, Treiber said.
“We have a beautiful community. We have a large neighborhood where we can host the parades,” he said.
While no decision was made, East Dundee trustees generally favored keeping the Christmas parade on Route 72 or alternating the route every year within neighborhood streets, keeping the Memorial Day parade in West Dundee and letting District 300 could decide its own parade route.
West Dundee officials are having the same discussions, Storlie said. The plan is for both village administrations to consider the feedback they receive and return later with a recommendation for their respective boards, she said.