Joliet police write 57 tickets in Millsdale Road enforcement

Joliet police last week issued 57 tickets on a stretch of Millsdale Road that neighbors say has become a haven for traffic scofflaws.

Two vehicles were towed away because the drivers had suspended licenses, Sgt. Dwayne English, spokesman for the Joliet Police Department, said in an email.

Tickets were issued for speeding, improper lane usage and disobeying stop signs as police stepped up enforcement on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

All those offenses were mentioned by residents who went to a City Council meeting Tuesday to complain that drivers using Millsdale Road to get in and out of the CenterPoint Intermodal Center were speeding not only on Millsdale but into the neighborhoods along the road.

They also described illegal maneuvers used to get around cars backed up during busy traffic periods and drivers at times completely ignoring intersection stop signs.

“It was great that they were out here writing tickets,” Joe Jenkins, one of the residents calling for traffic enforcement, said Monday.

Jenkins said the police presence “did make a difference, but today is a new week.”

Motorists appeared to be returning to bad habits Monday when police were not around, Jenkins said.

Police will return, said council member Suzanna Ibarra, whose District 5 includes the area.

“They’re not letting up,” Ibarra said Monday. “They’re going to continue until the people understand that they can’t drive just anyway they want to drive. There’s a disregard for the rules of the road, and it’s led to accidents.”

Milldale Road is an access road off Route 53 for workers at the warehouses in the CenterPoint Intermodal Center.

Police last week also set up two speed trailers in the area to collect traffic data, English said.