We've Got Good News -- and Bad -- from Route 126

Here are a couple of traffic tidbits – tales of Route 126, east and west of Plainfield. 

On the eastern front: The new stop light at Essington Road near the Interstate 55 interchange should be "turned on" this week. Crews got the electric current flowing last week and the light should be a "go" within a few days, slowing down cars racing toward town at interstate rates of speed. 

"We've had a lot of traffic problems out there and this is a welcome light," Police Chief William Doster said.

From the western front: If you see cops running radar near Ridge Road, there's a good reason. It's Lead-Foot Lane out there, police say. The driver they clocked doing 112 in a 55 mile-per-hour zone set the record, police say, but ticketing motorists going 80 and 90 miles an hour is common. 

People get an itchy foot while waiting in long lines to turn off Ridge Road. When they hit the open lanes of Route 126, the pedal hits the metal. 

"They get impatient, they take chances and that translates to unsafe speeds," Cmdr. Kevin Greco said.