Grant Will Fund Transportation Plan Update

Officials: Study will help Plainfield plan for future.

A $120,000 grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) will pay for an update to Plainfield’s Transportation Plan, which will incorporate previous studies with new data to help provide a blueprint for the village’s future, according to officials. Village trustees on Monday awarded a $120,000 contract to engineering firm Baxter & Woodman and planning consultants Teska Associates, which will team up to update the plan. The updated study will incorporate previous plans and studies, including the village’s soon-to-be updated Comprehensive Plan and a transit-oriented development (TOD) study. “The goal of this study is to consider the soon-to-be completed Comprehensive Plan updates, previously completed studies and plans and …

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Cops Will be out in Force Along Route 59 Monday

Naperville police are joining other law enforcement agencies Monday for an intense traffic study.

Although you should be abiding by the law regardless, be sure to buckle up Monday if you drive along Route 59. Naperville police and other area law enforcement agencies will be conducting a direct traffic study along Route 59 between the Will and Lake county lines. "The purpose of the initiative is to increase the safety of citizens utilizing the thoroughfare through education and traffic enforcement," said Naperville Police Sgt. Lee Martin, in a written statement. The efforts will be geared specifically toward speed and seat belts, according to a news release. But other safety violations may also be ticketed. "Each jurisdiction will implement their own enforcement action based upon the needs of their communities," Martin stated. The …

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Hugo

9:35 pm on Thursday, May 12, 2011

The nice thing about Plainfield is that the rape and child abuse is so infrequent, the smug little citizens have time to complain about seatbelt enforcement. But if you know where all this rape and child abuse is occurring, by all means, lend them a hand.   more ›

St. Mary's Wins State OK for Traffic Signal at its Route 59 Entrance

Volume of traffic coming and going at the Catholic church/school -- as many as 10,000 cars on weekends -- justifies the need for a light, the Rev. David Medow says.

The Rev. David Medow estimates as many as 10,000 cars make their way to St. Mary Immaculate Parish every weekend, ferrying church-goers to one of 11 masses held on Saturday and Sunday. Traffic volume is so great, in fact, that the church pays the Plainfield Police Department to help direct vehicles in to and out of the parish's parking lot at 15629 S. Route 59, Medow said. So two years ago, when church officials learned the state was going to widen Route 59 to four lanes through south Plainfield, they knew their chance to get a traffic signal had arrived, he said. "We approached (the Illinois Department of Transportation) about it in 2008, and they said, no, that wouldn't be possible," Medow said. "I knew we couldn't accept that answer…

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About Town

Victim of the 'Curve' Didn't Have to Die, Sister Says

Despite many accidents and fatalities -- and a promise of a study -- no one's willing to take responsibility for trying to fix dangerous road, brother says.

I received a heart-wrenching e-mail from Cory Guttillo, whose story puts a face on the deadly legacy of the River Road "Curve."  "On May 23rd of this year, my family suffered a devastating blow, my brother Bobby Dohney died in a motorcycle accident at that location," she said.   "It has occurred to me on several occasions that this accident did not have to happen," Guttillo wrote. "Many, many accidents with fatalities have taken place there before my brother's passing and yet nothing has ever been done."  Dohney was 34 years old and married with two children. He was an "amazing" father, son and brother, Guttillo said.  A neighbor who lives near the intersection of River Road and River Court, not far from Renwick Road, stayed with her …

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Colleen Stueckrad

1:41 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011

Thank You Jason!! We need all the help we can get to make this awful curve safer!   more ›