Study On Darien Street's Traffic Due This Fall

DARIEN, IL – A consultant expects to finish by the fall a study on what is believed to be a problematic section of Cass Avenue in Darien.

In an email Monday, consultant Jessica Carroll of CDM Smith said the draft study was submitted to DuPage County for review. She said her firm is awaiting feedback.

Once the firm receives the county's comments, it will update the draft and then the county is expected to seek feedback from the city of Darien, Argonne National Laboratory, the DuPage County Forest Preserve District and Downers Grove Township, among others.

The firm hopes to wrap up the process by September or October.

In early 2022, the County Board approved spending up to $241,000 with CDM Smith to study the intersection and the surrounding area.

Among CDM Smith's tasks would be to review crash data for the most recent five years. It is being asked to exclude 2020 because of the pandemic's effects on traffic.

The study is focused on Cass from Concord Place to 91st Street. It is set to review the "interaction" of Cass with interchange ramps, frontage roads, Interstate 55, and entrances to Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve and Argonne National Laboratory.

For the last few years, some Darien residents have pushed for safety improvements at Cass Avenue and South Frontage Road, citing the number of accidents.

Charles Fischer is among the Darien residents concerned with Cass and South Frontage Road. This is the problem he said he has seen: Semi-trucks that exit from northbound Interstate 55 onto southbound Cass Avenue must perform three immediate lane changes across Cass to turn left on South Frontage to access the Sterling Bay warehouse.

At least two major motorcycle crashes have occurred at Cass and South Frontage since 2020.

On May 31, 2020, Gina C. Pisano, 31, of Oak Lawn, who was riding a motorcycle, collided with a pickup truck, according to a police report. She died shortly afterward.

Last year, the Darien city government released a report that it said showed the two motorcycle crashes appeared to have been the result of poor judgment.