New Safety Improvements at Glenbard West When Students Return

By the time students return to school on April 4, they'll see some new safety improvements on Crescent Boulevard, according to District 87 officials.

"We wanted to do it while students weren't in school, to make it less disruptive and lessen the impact," said Chris McClain, assistant superintendent of business services. "It's easier to do when [students] aren't getting dropped-off and picked-up."

The construction, which has already begun, will realign parking spaces on the south side of Crescent Boulevard from angled parking to parallel parking spots. The plan also includes a newly created student drop-off area, a designated walkway between the entrance of Memorial Field and the sidewalk across the street and adding signs alerting drivers to watch for pedestrians.

Recently, about the District's need for more safety on Crescent Boulevard. Our Town, Our Field members have said that before Glenbard goes forward with any plans to enhance Memorial Field, the safety situation on the boulevard needs examination. The group's members have been particularly vocal about the formerly angled parking spots. showed that vehicles often needed to drive in the center of the street, due to cars parked in the angled spaces not pulling in far enough. The situation was particularly evident when snow piles prevented drivers from being able to pull completely into the spaces.

McClain said the improvements were part of the District's commitment to student and community safety.

"It's just continuous improvement of the area," McClain said. "We've listened and we've responded to what we think is good community input."

McClain said the District also has plans to install crosswalk safety beacons to further warn drivers of pedestrians, but the beacons have not yet been ordered and the District will need to review the plan with the Village prior to installation.