Lake Bluff Middle School Students Address Intersection Safety

An accident that injured a classmate’s brother two years ago inspired a group of students to recommend that the Lake Bluff Village Board install a blinking crosswalk at Scranton Avenue and Sheridan Road.

Three students, representing their eighth grade social studies class, presented their recommendation to the village board Monday night, explaining the research that went into their project and even offering a possible cost to install a blinking crosswalk.

“There’s not many like this in the area, except at , so the drivers wouldn’t just ignore it,” said student Helen Burkhardt of Lake Bluff.

For the second year, Lake Bluff Middle School eighth-graders have participated in Project Citizen, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Education. Social studies teacher Marsha Crall said the aim of Project Citizen is to encourage students to learn about and influence public policy in their area.

Six eighth grade classes from Lake Bluff Middle School examined six different problems and offered solutions. All six classes earned the opportunity to take their projects to a regional competition.

Student Margaret Andersen of Lake Bluff said her class decided to take on what they consider a dangerous intersection because their classmate’s brother, Jimmy Dolan, was hit by a car at that intersection a couple of years ago. Andersen said Dolan suffered a broken femur and had to have two rods inserted into his leg.

After researching the intersection, the students learned that since 2007, there have been eight accidents at Scranton Avenue and Sheridan Road. Two of those involved pedestrians, including the aforementioned Dolan.

The students also learned that 65 percent of all accidents occur at night.
“We believe a blinking crosswalk would solve that issue,” said student Maggie Mack of Knollwood.

About 57 residents responded to a survey the students placed on their school website to evaluate pedestrian usage of the intersection. More than 26 percent of respondents said they cross that intersection on foot every day during the summer.

The students' solution was a blinking crosswalk for the intersection, which the vast majority of the survey respondents agreed with. The project would cost between $105,000 and $120,000, Burkhardt said. The students expressed gratitude to Village Engineer George Russell, who not only helped them with their research but also aided in formulating an estimated cost for the blinking crosswalk.

Trustee Rick Lesser said the board looked at that intersection a couple of years ago, but pointed out that Sheridan Road is a state road.

Andersen acknowledged that during the course of their research, she and her classmates learned that Sheridan Road falls under the Illinois Department of Transportation’s ownership, but she hopes IDOT would allow the blinking crosswalk.

“I don’t think it’s a hard and fast solution to the problem,” said Trustee Marina Carney. As she witnessed at a similar blinking crosswalk on the Lake Forest College campus, there’s no guarantee that the driver will stop.

“What you certainly have done is raised our awareness of the issue again,” said Trustee Kathleen O’Hara.

The students said they are not giving up hope that something can be done to make the intersection safer. Burkhardt hopes that if the students’ project makes it to the state competition, it’ will gain more attention - possibly even from IDOT.

“And I think by hearing it from us, it will really reinforce that the whole community thinks this is a problem,” said Andersen.

Lake Bluff Middle School Principal Nate Blackmer is certainly proud of the students’ efforts. He said last year’s projects were good, “but this year, they blew us away.”

Crall agreed. “This year, the eighth-graders took it to a new level,” she said.

Blackmer said some past projects have been implemented, including improving student access to programs at the Committee Representing Our Young Adults () building. Another group found the middle school’s water fountains to be inadequate, with some having low water pressure or even releasing warm water. Blackmer said a plumber was brought in to work on the problem.