Back-to-Back Crashes Snarl Traffic on I-55, Route 59

Plainfield firefighters responded to two accidents within a half-mile of each other on I-55 near Route 126.

Traffic on Interstate 55 screeched to a halt Wednesday after two back-to-back crashes within a half-mile of each other shortly before 8 p.m., officials said. Plainfield Deputy Fire Chief Jon Stratton said the first call came in around 7:30 p.m. after a four-car crash on southbound I-55 just past Route 126 at mile marker 260. “It sounded like somebody swerved, and it just started a chain reaction,” he said. Six people refused treatment following the accident, and three were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Stratton. Less than half an hour later, a second crash just half a mile down the road involved a semi-truck and two other vehicles in a similar chain reaction accident, Stratton s aid. One …

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Plainfield Man Gets Prison for Fatal DUI Crash

Mark Shubert was nearly three times over the legal limit when he drove head-on into a car on Ridge Road and killed the passenger.

A Plainfield man with two previous drunken-driving convictions on his record has been sentenced to five years in prison for a DUI accident that killed a Minooka man last year. Mark A. Shubert, 41, pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI and reckless homicide in the Feb. 20, 2010, accident in which he drove his pickup truck into an oncoming lane of Ridge Road and struck a car head-on, according to a media release from the Kendall County state's attorney's office. The driver of the car survived but his passenger, Nicholas K. Frank, was killed. Shubert's blood alcohol content was found to be .223, nearly three times the legal limit. Shubert agreed to plead guilty in order to avoid a trial, with his defense attorney arguing he should be sentenced to …

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Plainfield Township to Post Curve Sign on River Road to Curb Accidents

Residents have long complained about the danger posed by the bend in River Road near Renwick, particularly since there is no warning to drivers.

Look for new road signs warning drivers about “The Curve.”  The sharp turn on River Road, just north of Renwick Road, has been a hazard for decades. There were three accidents there over the course of a couple of hours a week ago Thursday after just a light dusting of snow, neighbors report. Plainfield Township highway officials have ordered a new directional arrow curve sign and one posting the speed limit at 15 miles per hour.  The new signs should be installed next week, highway department secretary Mary Domanus said.

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About Town

And ComEd Said: Let There Be Lights at Essington and Rt. 126

After several weeks of waiting -- not to mention years of accidents -- the stoplights at this intersection will finally be activated today.

We've had our foot hovering over the brake since fall, but today is really the day the stoplights at Essington Road and Route 126 start doing what they're supposed to be doing.  The new lights, positioned to curb high-speed crashes with traffic coming off Interstate 55, have been ready to go since December. So what's been the hold up?  We've been waiting for ComEd to turn on the juice, village officials say.  In the nearly half-million-dollar road improvement project, the village of Plainfield also resurfaced the intersection and added a left-turn lane from northbound Route 126 onto Essington Road. The Illinois Department of Transportation picked up $404,177 of the tab, Director of Public Works Allen Persons said.

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Two Injured as Plane Crashes into Naperville Fitness Center

A husband and wife from Aero Estates were hurt today after they crashed their plane into XSport Fitness, but everyone made it out of the gym safely.

Two people were injured after a plane crashed into the XSport Fitness around noon today while taking off from a nearby subdivision. Lloyd McKee, 66, and his wife, Maureen McKee, 63, of Aero Estates — a local subdivision which includes a small residential airport — took off shortly before noon in their private airplane and were heading to Pittsburgh, Penn., said Naperville Police Cmdr. Mike Anders at the scene. Lloyd McKee was flying at the time, according to a city of Naperville news release. Emergency personnel received the 911 call at 12:04 p.m. indicating the couple had crashed into the second level of XSport Fitness at 2780 Fitness Dr. The gym is near 75th Street and Route 59 in Naperville. The McKees — pinned inside the plane — were …

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