Trails for Illinois - Every home a trailhead!

Some questions (in no particular order) about this particular crash—

- What’s the geometry of the intersection & the posted speed?

- Is there a history of crashes at this intersection?

- Was the driver driving too fast for conditions? He saw a bicyclist, presumably there are trail or pedestrian crossing signs posted (are there?)—did he slow his speed?

- Was the driver’s or the cyclists’ vision obstructed or obscured? Why didn’t the driver see the second, following cyclist? Why didn’t the cyclists see the car?

- Was the victim following his wife closely, or at a distance? Did his wife narrowly escape?

- Did the driver or the cyclist have any relevant impairments?

- How long were the cyclists waiting to cross?

- How many trail users cross here each day? How many cars?

Unquestionably, this is tragic for everyone involved. Our thoughts go out to both families.

For the record, Trails for Illinois has a strong opinion on street crossings—they can be safe, and must be for our residents, our visitors, our communities to get the highest returns from trail investments. Otherwise, road crossings squelch that hardwired yearning to go exploring as they become barriers and turn-around points; a poor road crossing wastes the millions of dollars invested in a trail system.

The value of trails rises with the number of trail users and hours/miles they spend exploring—more money flows into local businesses, more health benefits are achieved, more car trips replaced. The Triple Bottom Line’s bottom line is number of users*time spent.

Since trails are largely undervalued in Illinois, agencies generally underinvest (in design, in enforcement, and in dollars) in safe crossings. The death on 104th Avenue in the Chicago suburb Palos Park last year—on a trail voted one of the best running experiences in America—is one example.

We’ll work to get the details that will help us respond to this. Please send us news items as they surface, and share any questions you need answered about this heartbreaking story.

This is the work we are meant to do.

This march of marking sticks and the tree tagged for removal plot out the realignment of Sag Valley Trail’s crossing at 104th Avenue in southwest Cook County, just south of Route 83. In August, Patrick Mizwicki was killed by a car while crossing here. He was training with his high school cross country team on the breathtakingly beautiful trails around Swallow Cliff. He was 14.

Patrick’s family is a strong and courageous bunch. Nearly all of them run. They responded to the tragedy in an amazing way: With a call for help to make the 104th Ave. intersection safer to better protect trail users, and their families.

I’ve worked with local park districts for years, and the Mizwicki’s inquiries with them led them here, to Trails for Illinois.

The Sag-Valley Trail doesn’t cross 104th in a straight line; the trail is offset on each side by about 20 feet, so the marked crosswalk angles across the pavement at maybe 45 degrees. Remember Pythagorus? At an angle is the longer way across a road.

We timed crossing the street in the crosswalk and compared it against crossing at a right angle. Using the crosswalk nearly doubled our time on the road, in traffic lanes, in the way of traffic.

We videoed trail users. Lots of times people start in the crosswalk, then try to shorten the trip by veering straight across. You can see for yourself why - you feel like you’re exposed for too long.

We shared these observations with the Mizwickis, and suggested a quick improvement: realign the trail crossing. It would cut crossing time, and exposure to danger, by half. We offered other ideas too that do more, but take more money, and/or more bureaucracy and time, to realize. Moving the crosswalk to straight across just seemed to be the biggest improvement in the shortest amount of time. The Mizwickis shared the data and the recommendations with the Cook County Highway Department.

Just two months later, there are sticks plotting a realignment, and trees marked for removal.

Yes I feel bad about the 3-4 trees. But I’m so used to things getting built or fixed over years—overall I feel elated. Cook County Highways and the Forest Preserve District are, from a bureaucratic perspective, realigning this trail at a “shock and awe” pace. Their response is rising to the gravity of the situation. For Illinois agencies, too often that’s not the norm.

It’s the most important thing I think that Trails for Illinois has ever done. And this has legs—Cook County Highways will do a speed study this spring on 104th to begin evaluating other recommendations. And the Forest Preserve has begun thinking about evaluating all of its trail crossings.

Raising the profile of trails in our state’s planning, our economic development, our health decisions is a core activity of Trails for Illinois. We do not want tragedy to be a necessary prerequisite for that work. We want to bring about trail design that prevents tragedies, not responds to them—that’s where the war is won.

We are so grateful that we were given the opportunity to help the Mizwickis and all the trail users out in Palos.

This is the work we are meant to do.