May 21, 2024
Shaw Local
NewsSubscribePrep SportsThank You First RespondersNewsletterObituarieseNewspaperThe SceneEvent Calendar

Joliet eyes more traffic control at fatal crash site

Accident happened at Pandola Avenue, city also looking at Theodore and Fiday intersections

By Bob Okon
A memorial is set up along the Interstate 55 Frontage Road at Pandola Avenue, a Joliet intersection where an April collision ended led to the deaths of two people. Dec. 11, 2023.

A memorial is set up along the Interstate 55 Frontage Road at Pandola Avenue, a Joliet intersection where an April collision ended led to the deaths of two people. (Bob Okon)

The city of Joliet, urged on by the mother of a man killed in a fatal accident in April, is considering new safety measures on the Interstate 55 Northeast Frontage Road.

Two people were killed in the collision on April 14 at the Pandola Avenue intersection with the frontage road.

“If we can reduce speed it will save lives,” Amy Gallo of Markham told the Joliet City Council last week. “Something needs to be done on that frontage road.”

Her son, Tyler Gallo, 20, of Willow Springs, was killed in the accident when he was driving on the frontage road and collided with a Ford Escape making a left turn off the road onto Pandola.

Marcia Barr, 62, of Joliet, was a passenger in the Escape. She died two days later from her injuries in the crash.

The accident was one of seven that occurred at the intersection in the past five years, although at least two of those do not appear to be related to the intersection, said Greg Ruddy, director of public works.

The city of Joliet is considering new traffic control measures along the Interstate 55 Northeast Frontage Road at Pandola Avenue. Dec. 11, 2023.

The city of Joliet is considering new traffic control measures along the Interstate 55 Northeast Frontage Road at Pandola Avenue. (Bob Okon)

The speed limit at the intersection is marked at 35 mph, although Ruddy said he would not be surprised if motorists exceed that speed on the frontage road where traffic is not stopped at intersections in a stretch between Black and Caton Farm roads.

“It’s a two-mile stretch of straight road, and it currently doesn’t stop,” Ruddy said. “People see that and tend to increase their speed.”

The city will consider stop signs, other signage, more lighting, and other measures to get motorists’ attention to potential safety hazards along the stretch of frontage road, he said.

The city has started a review of frontage road traffic history that includes a look at intersection collisions, particularly at Pandola, Theodore Street and Fiday Road.

“All three of those roads are collateral streets that go to Essington Road,” Ruddy said.

While the three streets connect with Essington Road, they are not heavily travelled. All three go through residential areas, where motorists are slowed down by speed limits and stop signs before reaching the frontage road. At that point, westward traffic is blocked by I-55.