SAUGANASH — Concerned Northwest Side parents are pushing for safety upgrades at a busy intersection in Sauganash, where they say drivers routinely endanger kids on their way to school.
The intersection of West Peterson Avenue and North Kilpatrick Avenue is a main feeder to Sauganash Elementary School, 6040 N. Kilpatrick Ave. There have been crashes, speeding drivers and angry drivers screaming when kids navigate the crosswalk, parents said.
Lori Hoagland and other parents have taken matters into their own hands, setting up orange flags at each corner of the crosswalk for families to use when crossing on the way to and from school. But the road needs something more permanent to keep kids and pedestrians safe, parent say.
Last year, Hoagland started a petition calling for more signs at the intersection, collecting more than 500 signatures.
“We are looking for a solution to drivers not seeing what they need to see,” Hoagland said. “The goal is to slow people down in the area so they have time to be more alert … and to get them to stop at one location, ideally Kilpatrick.”
Last month, the Chicago Department of Transportation finished a traffic study of the Peterson corridor from Keating to Knox avenues. Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th) requested the study after neighbors asked for better safety infrastructure.
Experts shared the transit department’s recommendations and answered parent questions at a Sauganash Elementary Local School Council meeting earlier this week. It was also attended by Nugent, Chicago Public School officials and Sen. Ram Villivalam, the chairperson of the Illinois Senate’s transportation committee.
The intersection, which has a speed camera operating during school hours, is a 20-mph zone. The study showed 85 percent of drivers clocked in at 22 mph, meaning speed isn’t a factor on the stretch, said Carl Schwarzer, assistant traffic engineer with the Department of Transportation.
The study also analyzed crash data from 2020-2022 and found there were 16 crashes reported on Peterson between Keating and Knox, none of which involved pedestrians, officials said.
But Abby Factor, another concerned parent, said she’s seen fender-benders at the intersection that were not reflected in the study.
“I have called in two fender-benders while I was crossing. … Those were not listed on the crash data report,” Factor said. “A lot of what is happening is not called into police.”
Factor wants safety improvements to be addressed before someone is hurt or killed, she said. She cited the death of Peter Paquette, a longtime volunteer of Ald. Matt Martin (47th), who died when a driver hit him in a North Center crosswalk last summer.
Parents said they want more signs to remind drivers to stop at the crosswalk and solutions like flashing crosswalk signs, digital speed indicators or even a stoplight.
Schwarzer said some options could be dangerous or distracting to drivers, while others are not feasible because of the road’s design.
Based on the study, the transit agency recommends installing a concrete pedestrian refuge on the west leg of Peterson at Kilpatrick to provide a protected median area to wait for gaps in traffic, Schwarzer said.
On the east side, the median extends and covers the crosswalk, so adding the west side protection could match the east side’s design, experts said.
“We did recommend that could be constructed to look like the east side and actually have refuge on both sides, creating something we call a two-stage crossing,” Schwarzer said. “If you are worried about one direction of cars at a time, you can gather yourself in the median and then continue on.”
Experts also suggested potentially removing trees to improve visibility around the intersection.
The agency also proposed additional pedestrian signs along both sidewalks and on the median for increased visibility, which could be installed quickly, Schwarzer said. Yellow pedestrian signs are already at each corner.
Crystal Carrington, CPS’ crossing guard manager, told neighbors the district does not have money to add a crossing guard to Kilpatrick but may request one after district officials do their own traffic study to determine if it’s safe to have a crossing guard there.
“Having a crossing guard at the intersection will then also cause traffic there, and it causes a concern for us, safety-wise, with putting the crossing guard at an intersection that’s in between two lights and on a busy street to cross students somewhere where there is no stop light,” Carrington said.
Principal Christine Munns, who has been at the school for more than 20 years, said there was a crossing guard stationed at Peterson and Kilpatrick years ago, but they were removed due to safety concerns.
Nugent, who lives close to the intersection, has worked with the school council and area officials to determine the best solution based on the traffic expert recommendations. She wants more data before making a decision, she said.
“We are waiting to hear back from Chicago Public Schools Safety and Security as to whether it would be safe for a crossing guard to be stationed at the intersection of Kilpatrick and Peterson,” Nugent said.
Officials at the meeting repeatedly suggested crossing at Cicero and Peterson, where there is another red-light camera and a stop light, or at Forest Glen and Peterson, which also has a stoplight and the school crossing guard. Both are safer options, they said.
Some parents said would mean walking a few blocks either direction to the crossings and tracking back to school, adding to an already stressful morning routine.
“Are you saying people are going to take a 15-minute walk out of their way three blocks east and they’ll cross and walk three blocks west to school? No one is going to do that,” Factor told Block Club before the meeting.
Peterson Avenue, which is a four-lane road that sees about 14,700 cars a day, is overseen by the Illinois Department of Transportation. A recent agreement between the agency and the city’s transportation department means the city’s transportation agency will more easily be able to work on state-owned streets.
Nugent said she’s in a “holding pattern” as next steps are determined. Most parents said they appreciate that the issue is moving forward and hope to see added signs and the refuge island installed.
“We want more positive feedback on the players involved,” Hoagland said. “I am OK with this taking time as long as we are all searching for the right solution.”
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