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Ongoing road work by the Illinois Department of Transportation has led to more than 600 tickets and warnings for illegal U-turns in Willow Springs.
Since June 1, 2024, through March 14 of this year, Willow Springs police officers have issued a whopping 634 tickets or warnings to drivers, Police Lt. Michael Jurak said Friday.
That’s an average of more than 60 per month since the work began.
The IDOT work closed the ramp leading from southbound La Grange Road to northbound Archer, the tollway and 79th Street, he said.
Because of that, countless drivers, rather than take the detour down to eastbound 87th Street, instead have been exiting La Grange Road to southbound Archer, he said. Many then make U-turns to head north on Archer, Jurak said.
Doing so is illegal, not to mention being very dangerous.
Jurak said there have been numerous accidents because drivers in the right lane of Archer who make a U-turn are “often T-boned by drivers in the left lane,” Jurak said.
Another problem is that for every car that’s pulled over by a police officer, “another three are doing the same thing,” he said.
“They do it all day long,” Jurak said.
Some drivers do take legal recourse to head north on Archer.
But that means turning off Archer onto side streets where they can turn around in a driveway or by making a three-point turn, he said.
While that may work fine for automobiles, it’s difficult for semi-trailer trucks that sometimes tear up lawns and landscaping in the process, he said.
“We do what we can,” Jurak said, “but a lot of the residents are upset.”
Willow Springs Mayor Melissa Neddermeyer on March 18 said “the U-turn situation that’s been happening on Archer is an unfortunate one.”
“It creates safety hazards and property damage. … It has created an uptick in citations,” she said, adding that police officers are doing all they can.
The mayor said “it’s a temporary problem that will fix itself once that construction is done.”
She has heard some complaints from residents, and that prompted the village to put up signs that forbid making U-turns.
Most turn north on the first two roads leading from Archer and turn around. One, Van Drive, is made more dangerous as it skirts a parking lot for Ambi Bar & Grill.
“The good news is that — in speaking with IDOT last week — (La Grange Road) should open up in a month or so and be back to what it was before,” Neddermeyer said.
On March 18 around 3 p.m., Lt. Jurak pulled up while on patrol to speak with a reporter taking photographs.
Told that he just missed a semi-truck making an illegal U-turn, Jurak expressed disappointment, saying he wished he had been there to issue a ticket to the truck driver.
The post Illegal U-turns surge in Willow Springs amid road work appeared first on Southwest Regional Publishing.
