ARCHER HEIGHTS — Neighbors and local officials are calling for safety improvements on a major Southwest Side street after three crashes within a few days of each other.
South Pulaski Road is a four-lane thoroughfare on the Southwest Side, going through Archer Heights, West Elsdon, West Lawn and Ashburn, with an entrance and exit for the Stevenson Expressway. Neighbors say the street has been dangerous for years, but it’s recently gotten worse.
On Feb. 8, a driver ran a red light and hit and killed a 68-year-old woman who was crossing South Pulaski Road at 43rd Street. The person drove away, police said.
Investigators are asking for help finding the white truck that might have been involved. There aren’t any updates in the case as of Tuesday afternoon, police said.
On Friday afternoon, another person was hit on Pulaski Road a couple blocks south at 47th Street, police said. A man was driving west on 47th Street and was making a left onto Pulaski Road when he hit a woman who was crossing the street, police said. She was hospitalized.
The driver was issued two citations for not stopping for a pedestrian in the crosswalk and for having an expired driver’s license, police said.
The third crash — this one between two SUVs — happened early Sunday near Pulaski Road and 42nd Street, police said. One man died in the crash, and six people were hospitalized, officials said. Police didn’t say what caused the crash of if any citations have been given.
The family of Jinkun Xu, the woman killed in Thursday’s hit-and-run, told NBC5 she was walking back from the nearby Pete’s Fresh Market, 4343 S. Pulaski Road, when she was hit. Xu was only a few blocks from home when she was killed, relatives said.
In a statement, Ald. Jeylu Gutierrez (14th) said these fatalities and injuries have left the community “in shock.”
The alderwoman said she’s talked with the city’s transportation department about the need for improved safety measures along this stretch of Pulaski Road. Gutierrez is planning a community meeting in the coming weeks with representatives from the planning and transportation departments so neighbors can directly share their concerns and suggestions.
“It is imperative that we take immediate and decisive action to prevent further tragedies and ensure the wellbeing of our community,” she said.
The date and location of the meeting aren’t available yet.
In a statement, the Chicago Department of Transportation said it is a “tragedy” when people are killed in traffic crashes and the agency is committed to making improvements especially in “community areas with high crash rates.”
“In collaboration with Southwest Side aldermen and community members, CDOT will continue assessing potential safety enhancements to Pulaski Road to make the street safer and more comfortable for people walking and help reduce dangerous speeding along the corridor,” spokesperson Erica Schroeder said.
‘It’s Getting Progressively Worse’
South Pulaski Road in Ald. Marty Quinn’s 13th Ward, south of Archer Heights, has been a source of concern among his constituents, he said.
“Whether it’s the drifting, the drag racing or the speeding, Pulaski has become a thoroughfare that’s become dangerous,” the alderman said.
Quinn said he’s talked to CDOT about precautionary measures, but he also believes it’s a matter of police enforcement.
The alderman is part of a coalition of Southwest Side City Council members advocating for a new police district, saying it’s needed to fix the area’s low officer-to-neighbor ratio and long 911 response times.
“There are speed cameras around schools on Pulaski, there are red light cameras up and down Pulaski, and that hasn’t served as a deterrent,” Quinn said. “That’s why I’m fighting for the new police district, so we can have a proactive arm to policing.”
Mario Aguirre, president and CEO of United Credit Union at Pulaski Road and 45th Street, said he thinks more police in the area could deter reckless drivers better than cameras. He said he is concerned other safety measures, like concrete medians or widened curbs, could become like a “ramp” if someone is speeding.
Aguirre has worked at the Archer Heights credit union for eight years, and he said drivers “consistently” hit the building’s landscaping and short brick retaining walls.
“It’s getting progressively worse,” he said. “We no longer have [the brick walls] repaired but rather just re-stacked because we know two weeks later they’re going to be scattered again.
“The street lamps around here are all shiny, silver new because they’re replaced every six months or so after they’re knocked over. We always have the latest and greatest type of mailbox outside the building because it’s knocked over so often.”
These car-related fatalities and injuries follow a community meeting early last week during which neighbors raised concerns about plans to build a Panda Express with a drive-thru at the intersection of South Pulaski Road and 51st Street.
Several people said they are worried about traffic and pedestrian safety near the proposed restaurant because of the drive-thru and having entrances and exits so close to a busy stretch of road.
The restaurant would be across the street from Curie Metropolitan High School — one of the city’s largest — and the Pulaski Orange Line Station.
“My concern is that we’re going to take a congested situation, especially at peak times a really congested situation, and a dump a lot more traffic on top of it,” Dixon Galvez-Searle, with the Southwest Collective, said during the meeting. “There’s also a high volume of Curie students who are crossing the street, not always at the stop light.”
At the meeting, project leaders said they will consider the suggestions of closing the proposed entrance and exit closest to Pulaski and 51st, or possibly making it entrance-only, but they didn’t say whether they would consider moving forward with a restaurant without a drive-thru.
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