Work Aims To Stop Darien Crashes

DARIEN, IL – The state is planning a project to help stop the weekly crashes into a cyclone fence along North Frontage Road in Darien, a local official said last week.

The fence in question is in a narrow area between North Frontage Road and the Cass Avenue ramp to southbound Interstate 55.

The problem is particularly severe for eastbound drivers on North Frontage Drive.

"The City has been requesting (the state Department of Transportation) to review the curve for deficiencies over the last several years," Dan Gombac, Darien's municipal services director, said in an email to Patch. "The Agency had completed a study and construction plans last year for the reconstruction of the quadrant."

The work will consist of reconfiguring the curve through excavation and rebuilding the section of roadway for a smoother transition, Gombac said.

Bids were opened last month and the project is expected to take place later this year, he said.

He credited Alderwoman Mary Sullivan and Mayor Joseph Marchese for advocating the improvements to state officials.

The curve may have been a factor in a 2021 fatal crash.

Early the morning of Sept. 27, 2021, a passerby saw a motorcycle in a ditch between North Frontage Road and the Cass Avenue ramp to southbound Interstate 55. As it turned out, a man and a woman died in a crash.

They were believed to have been heading east on North Frontage Road about 14 hours earlier.