Expect traffic snarls in central Downers Grove to increase considerably, although the official detour route is Illinois 53 to Ogden Avenue.

In other, better, traffic news, the village recently installed a stop sign on Grant Street at Middaugh Avenue, just south of Herrick Middle School.

This measure is long overdue, as any parent who has tried to pull out of the Herrick parking lot during drop-off or pick-up times can tell you. But more important it will prevent the terrible pedestrian accident that has been waiting to happen at the intersection for years.

My family has spent four years at Herrick, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen vehicles sail through the Grant crosswalk before and after school as throngs of middle-schoolers waited to cross.

I was concerned enough to send an e-mail to the school administration last year, and I contemplated trying to get the requisite number of parents and neighbors involved to bring the matter to the Traffic and Parking Commission.

I failed to do that, but it’s good news that both the school and TAP saw the problem and moved to rectify it. Future Herrick students will be safer as a result — and parents will no longer stress over how long it will take them to get out of the school lot.

Local 150 workers went on strike July 1, days before the scheduled closure of the Belmont crossing. That project is expected to resume shortly.  The crossing is now scheduled to be closed from 5 a.m. Wednesday, July 28 to on or before 5 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 12.

“Work has resumed on several, but not all, Village projects,” according to the village website. Among the projects halted by the strike were the Washington and McCollum park stormwater retention projects, storm sewers along Benton Avenue and several resurfacing projects.

Local 150 members operate heavy machinery.  At the time of the job action, the union said contractors are seeking too many concessions, including increased costs for health insurance.  The union is not not seeking a net increase in pay, only increases to cover current health benefit costs, according to the union statement.

Local 150 members are expected to vote on the agreement at 6:30 p.m. today.

My kids have taken swim lessons and we’ve logged long hours at the pool and beach, but as vigilant as I’ve tried to be, I realize now how little I knew about the actually signs of drowning.

Vittone’s post not only explains what drowning really looks like — and it’s not like they show it in the movies — but it also sheds light on why so many children drown in full view of their parents or other adults.

Please take a moment and read this. And read the comments too, as many of them provide eloquent and unnerving testimony as to just how quickly a tragedy can occur.

Bryan Place residents can look to regain power later today, once Com Ed has finished installing a new transformer, said Communications Director Doug Kozlowski, who with Village Manager Dave Fieldman, has been maintaining contact with Com Ed since Friday’s storms knocked out power to at least 1,000 Downers Grove residents.

Another 25 customers in the area of Belmont Road and Pershing Avenue are due to see power restored – if Com Ed can locate the household that has been running a generator.

The generator could be a serious safety concern once the electrical grid comes back online, because it could send unregulated voltage through the system, Kozlowski explained. Com Ed personnel are going door to door in an attempt to locate the generator, he said.

Also of concern to the village is the one or two customers who may not get power restored along with the rest of their neighborhood. Once it appears the area is back online, Com Ed considers the job accomplished.

Residents without power may not realize that they have to contact Com Ed again if they continue to have a problem, so the village has been helping with that, Kozlowski said. “We were working phones pretty late last night.”

As of last night, at least one resident of the Banchory Woods development was still without power, he said.

The village is attributing the outages to tree branches falling on wires. Public Works has been attending to the damages since the first storm was clearing the area and was preparing chippers and calling in workers by mid-afternoon on Friday.

While many areas have been cleared, the village continues to address damage to parkway trees, Kozlowski said. “Part of it is waiting to see what branches turns brown on trees,” he said.

As a reminder, the village doesn’t dispose of vegetation that falls on private property.

Photo credit: Greg

The Fairview Avenue grade crossing will be closed through June 5 for emergency repairs, according to the Metra website.

A Metra spokesman told the DGreport the Illinois Commerce Commission ordered the Burlington Northern to make the repairs after being alerted to the site’s rough crossing. “The train tracks had settled below the grade of road and cars were experiencing a very rough crossing,” he said.
alerted to it.

The closure will “severely impact access to the south commuter parking lot in the afternoon when passengers unload on the north platform,” Metra said. “It is strongly recommended that you board your train from an alternate station during this project. ”

Passengers are encouraged to use the Main Street Station or the Westmont station at 1 W. Quincy St., near the intersection of Quincy and Cass Avenue.

“Maple Avenue is located west of the Fairview Avenue station and is the only designated crossing to access the south parking lot during your afternoon commute,” Metra said.  “For your safety, do not enter the construction zone or cross the tracks at an unauthorized location.”

I have the fortune of being able to walk to the Main Street station every morning for my commute downtown. Access to Metra was one of my “must haves” when we were house shopping a few years earlier (so was a wet bar staffed by strippers moonlighting from Scores, but the wife never agrees with me).

I vary my walk to the train every morning, sometimes serpentine along a street I rarely see,  or most likely,  taking a direct route because I’m running late.

Regardless of the direction, I almost always arrive at the crossing at Forest Avenue and the tracks, timing my arrival by the clock on the Downers Community Bank building, knowing that if I don’t cross by 7:57 the gates will swing down and I’m stuck on the north side, waiting for the 8:16 and the slow walk of shame that says “late again moron.”

Thursday, May 4, was exactly such a morning.

Having missed the 8 (again), I crossed at Forest and cursed whatever bug my daughter picked up that caused her to barf her Cheerios that morning. Coffee at the station is only a buck and a half and I could take solace in a gorgeous, sunny morning for my walk of shame, and maybe one of those chocolate donuts in the bakery case.

Coffee of the day was hazelnut (!) but the donuts never look as good as they sound. I exited the station by the side door facing the tracks, the gates were down and the 8:06 express was approaching fast from the west.

Walking east toward where the first car would load, I had my head down fumbling with my iPod and coffee cup when the engineer blasted his horn in one, long, non-stop wail. From my back, a hot wall hit like a sandstorm rolling through the station, acrid train smoke and burning rubber swept through the platform along with the deafening roar of the horn.

I remember instinctively ducking down on one knee and bracing myself for a crash as bits of rubber and unseen flotsam blast across the platform like shotgun pellets, bouncing violently across my ankles and carrying off one of my sandals.

I remember closing my eyes and screaming a stream of obscenities in the direction of the passing freight, but the roar completely drowned out my voice. Looking up, I was relieved to see the train pass without derailing. Rookie engineer maybe, overreacting to a commuter making an ill-advised dash across the tracks.

I grabbed my sandal and continued east along the platform when I noticed something curious, the train had stopped about a half mile past the station, and although my ears were ringing, I could sense it was deadly quiet.

There was a woman in front of me staring at a point on the tracks just to my left and whispering into her cell phone. I glanced over and saw a bright, red carpet tossed on the tracks, just a few feet away. It wasn’t until I walked another 50 yards or so did my mind process the image correctly. The carpet had a face. A man’s face. I doubled back slowly. The carpet had a torso and one outstretched arm, and was not a carpet at all.

It was a man, or at least the upper third of a man. Having been fortunate enough to have never fought in a war, my mind had no frame of reference for what lay crumpled next to me. Commuters around me were frozen in place, gawking. There was a brief moment, before the confusion and chaos that followed, as I was staring at what remained of this man, that I was overwhelmed by how undignified this felt, how absolutely wrong.

I was embarrassed for him. I wanted to grab a coat and cover him up and scold passing commuters for gawking, which, of course, was exactly what I was doing. Breaking off, I forced myself to look away, and I never looked directly at him again.

In the first of many ironies on that day, there was a ‘commuter safety’ patrol at the station, two DG police officers issuing warnings and tickets to commuters making late sprints around the gates. They were the first to run to the scene.

Images for me become choppy from this point on, but some have left an impression:

A woman kneeling in prayer near the beauty shop entrance, a man walking right by the body, newspaper tucked under one arm and iPod cord dangling, oblivious.  People running away, people crowding close. A young student vomiting next to the fountain, apparently not wanting to sully the water. Construction workers running over from one of the condominium sites. Police swarming in from the station, running across the parking lot and over the platform.  Silence. Tears. Shouting. Surreal. A woman asking her friend:  “do you think he’s all right?” Another woman asking no one in particular “is that a deer?”

Credit must be given to the DGPD. With a stoicism that I admire but could never emulate, they quickly covered the scene as best they could and arranged transportation to move bewildered commuters anywhere but there.

As we were walking toward the bus that was to take us to another station, I noticed for the first time that the flotsam that showered the station on impact was not bits of rubber or stone. With as much dignity as they could muster, a dozen or so DGPD stood scattered around the platform warning commuters to “be careful” as they stepped. I thought about my ankles, and a queasiness washed over me that lasted several days.

The rest of the day is a bright sunny, surreal blur. It was still a beautiful morning. We sat silently on the bus, which transported us to the Fairview Avenue station. There didn’t seem to be a plan from Metra as to what happens next. It had been over an hour since the accident and the train still sat on the tracks just east of Main Street.

Several commuters hung from the open vestibules and looked back toward the body. Having not witnessed the accident first hand, they seemed animated and annoyed, shouting about being late, talking loudly into cell phones and shaking their heads.

Truth be told I would have done the same if I were on that train, but unfortunately I get on at Main Street and my daughter had a tummy ache that morning and I was running late and the promise of coffee and a donut was my way of making the most of a bad situation.

Somewhere around 11 and with no word from Metra, I started to walk back toward Main Street and home. Somewhere between Fairview and downtown, in a lovely neighborhood just south of the tracks and near a small park (a place I’ve never been able to locate again), I found a dog, or I should say he found me.

He came bounding out between two parked cars, dragging a broken leash behind him, wagging his tail and hopping with excitement. I spent the next hour walking him door to door, trying to find out where he came from and racking my brain in an attempt to decipher the deep cosmic or spiritual significance of finding a lost dog on the same morning I’d witnessed a horrific death firsthand.

I never did figure that one out, but I did find a nice woman who knew the dog’s owner and graciously allowed me to leave him with her until the neighbor returned home.

When I finally walked past the Main Street station a few hours later, the scene was organized chaos. There was a cover (not unlike a carpet, but not red) on the tracks covering the body. The woman whom I saw kneeling in prayer recognized me and pointed me out to an investigating officer, who wanted a word with me about the accident.

Did I see where he came from? Did I recognize him? Did he have anything with him? I began recalling how I found the dog near a little park and I think his leash broke because it was worn near the collar, but I’m pretty sure he’s not a stray — and the strange look in the officer’s eyes made me realize I wasn’t making any sense at all.

Then it hit me — all of it, all at once. I began sobbing and my face flushed from embarrassment at my loss of control, which just made it worse. I apologized to the officer, I just wanted to go home,  please? I just want to go home, can I just go home?

The officer could not have been kinder. He put a firm arm around me and promised me that, whatever reasons the young man had for stepping in front of that train, there was nothing I could have done to prevent it, nothing.

Oddly, I felt a sense of relief. Until that point I assumed the train hit a bone-headed commuter who had carelessly run around the gates, trying to make a train (like you see every morning), but it never dawned on me that I witnessed a suicide.

I’m not sure why that’s any better, but somehow knowing that somewhere, there wasn’t going to be a knock on someone’s door and an officer with hat in hand explaining that “your husband had an accident,” made me feel better. I spoke to a priest for a few minutes and walked up the hill — home.

I spent the afternoon painting the ceiling in the dining room because I could, and listening to the Crosstown classic on WGN. I threw my sandals into the garage where they sat in a damp corner for 3 years until I finally retreived them and tossed them out.

That evening I sat at the bar at Emmett’s nursing a 1a.m. ale and watching the highlights from the Crosstown. Around me were other commuters from that morning who had been propping up the bar for the remainder of the day. I eavesdropped on conversations about the incident but avoided engaging in any of them, mostly because I had nothing to add.

This is what I saw, this is what happened. I didn’t know the guy, but I witnessed his last moment on earth and the undignified way he chose to end it,  and I don’t know why.  I had no business being there, being a witness. No one asked me. I had no choice, I was powerless. My daughter was sick in the morning and I was sick the rest of the week.

I don’t have any profound insights to offer as to how this has affected me. I wish I did, because I feel I should. I don’t. Maybe I will some day, but for now it comes and goes like a ghost when I least expect it.

The crossing at Forest is just another crossing, but the bakery case in the station makes me uneasy. I read a newspaper account about the accident that mentioned the man’s name and that his last known address was at the Tivoli Hotel, as if I needed another reason to despise that place.

In the days that followed, a small scrap-wood cross appeared next to a bush near the Forest Avenue crossing. The first time I saw it I felt a deep stab of anxiety, followed by a flush of anger. Who put this here? Were you a friend of his? Why didn’t you talk to him, or did you? Who was he? Why? I catch myself because I don’t know if I feel this way because a young man chose death by Metra or because I was forced to witness it, and that makes me feel shame, and who wants to feel shame over something they had no control over?

I’ve had many friends tell me that there must be a deeper lesson here for me, but I find myself feeling exactly the opposite, that it doesn’t mean anything at all, it just is. That’s the randomness of life. One day your daughter has a tummy ache, then you witness a bloody suicide, find a lost dog on your walk home, talk to a priest and paint the ceiling in the dining room. The next day is Saturday and come Monday morning you’ll still be late for the 8 o’clock and you’ll still skip the chocolate donuts in the bakery case. Then its Tuesday.

I have noticed one change in myself, one big difference in my morning routine. I’m still often late for the 8 o’clock, which leaves me standing at the crossing when the gates go down.

There are other commuters around me, and sometimes I recognize those distinctive twitches, their body language and gestures and how they’re measuring the speed of the oncoming express, poised to dash around the gates in order to make a train. Now, I’ll pre-empt their dash by screaming PLEASE DON’T.  It’s effective. I’ve done it a few times and received a mix of sheepish grins, scowls and one woman who flipped me off and ran across anyway.

Regardless, I would have never spoke up before May 4, 2006. Everyone deserves the chance to go home.

The club, which has hosted annual Oktoberfest celebrations and also operated the Heritage Fest Beer Garden for the past five  years, is confident in its ability to pull off Grove Fest, said President Barb Wysocki. The three-day event is scheduled for July 15-18.

“We’ve taken a hard look at this,” Wysocki told the DGreport. “We know the risks involved, but we feel if we run it effectively, we will be able to make a profit.”

Rotary will be responsible for covering all expenses relating to the festival, including those incurred by police, fire, public works and senior village staff. The club is required to pay $25,600 two weeks before the festival and also to furnish another $30,720 in cash or letter of credit to cover any overruns.

When the item was discussed at last week’s workshop meeting, commissioners repeatedly emphasized that all costs associated with the festival will be born by Rotary.

Concerns were also expressed regarding Rotary’s attendance estimate of 25,000, which some commissioners considered too low. If more people come than can be accommodated in the entertainment garden, they will be encouraged to visit local shops and restaurants, Wysocki said. Police will be on hand to help with crowd control.

With public safety its chief concern and responsibility, the village reserves the right to cancel or shutdown the festival at any time. “They want us to execute perfectly,” Wysocki said.

Realizing that crowd control could be an issue, the Rotary purposely conceived GroveFest as a much smaller event than previous village-run festivals. There will be about a dozen amusement rides for all ages, a single stage featuring local bands and other homegrown talent, and an “entertainment garden” that will serve beer and food provided by local restaurants.

“This will be a total community event,” Wysocki said. “There won’t be lots of vendors from other cities or states.”

The site will be the library parking lot and nearby commuter parking lot along the south side of the train tracks. Main and Curtiss streets will remain open.

Wysocki said GroveFest will be marketed only to Downers Grove and neighboring communities in an attempt to keep attendance within bounds. Heritage Fest typically attracted more than 100,000 attendees.

The club plans to recruit and train as many as 200 volunteers to staff the festival, Wysocki said. Members are also carving out an opportunity for up to 20 local non-profit organizations to participate. The groups have in the past relied on Heritage Fest for fundraising.

The council also encouraged Rotary to work with the Downers Grove Arts Council, which also had a festival proposal in the works. The arts council was looking to create an event that would allow local arts groups to recoup some of the financial support lost as a result of the 2010 village budget cuts.

Wysocki said the Rotary and the arts council had discussed working together on a festival, however philosophical differences made the difficult. The arts council wanted to use an events company to produce the festival, while Rotarians wanted to handle it themselves, Wysocki said.

“We respectfully and cordially decided (a partnership) wouldn’t work,” she said.

The arts council submitted its proposal to the village on April 8. Given that it had taken several weeks of discussion to bring the Rotary proposal up to village standards, commissioners decided time is too short to fully vet the arts council’s submission.

Rotary has also made contact with the teen organizers of the “Bring Back the 2010 Downers Grove Heritage Fest” page on Facebook, which has more than 6,000 members.

“We will be looking for volunteers if any of those individuals would like to help out and volunteer for service hours,” Wysocki said.  “We’re going to need people to clean up tables and perform other tasks and we will be reaching out through Facebook.”

Now that the council has approved the proposal, work can swing into high gear with less than three months until opening day. Wysocki said the organization is confident its 44 member professionals — ” a lot of smart people capable of planning and executing events” — are up to the task.

And “we’re crossing our fingers that we have great weather.”

Photo credit: Todd McDaniel

Updated: 9 a.m. April 9 with bank account information.

Aid efforts are underway for displaced residents

Fire Chief Jim Jackson told a breath-taking story of courage and cooperation as he recounted for the village council April 6 the department’s mammoth effort against the three-alarm fire that devastated a west-side apartment building in the early morning hours of April 5.

In all, 100 firefighters representing 25 departments and 45 companies battled the fire, which investigators have determined broke out in the attic of the 16-unit Downers Belmont Apartments at 4901 Belmont Ave.  The preliminary investigation was not able to pinpoint the cause due to the building’s precarious and unsafe condition, Jackson told the DGreport.

Firefighters arrived at the scene within four minutes of receiving the 12:15 a.m. call to find heavy smoke at the roof line and a fire already engulfing the center portion of the building.

There was no alarm notification inside the two-story, 16-unit building, Jackson told commissioners. “It was a true life-and-death situation.”

Five people were assisted out of the first floor and six people from the second floor, he said. At that point, a partial ceiling collapse cut off the firefighters’ exit and threatened an imminent flashover or simultaneous ignition of all combustible material.

Earlier, firefighters had heard a rumbling  in the second-floor ceiling, which indicated the fire had already had a “great head start,” Jackson said.

“We found fire from one end to the other of the attic, which is an indication we need to get out,” he said. He likened the trusses in the 165-foot by 60-foot attic to “a lumber yard.”

“We found a second way out and went into a defensive attack from the outside to control the fire to the building of origin, Jackson said. The roof of the structure collapsed within 20 minutes and the interior pancaked, leaving the exterior walls with no support.

It took firefighters more than three hours to tamp down the fire and more than 15 hours to entirely extinguish it, said Jackson, who praised the work of village fire, police and public works departments, the mutual aid companies, and Commissioner Geoff Neustadt, a District 58 employee, who arrived to open Henry Puffer Elementary School to the building’s evacuated residents.

He also commended the residents who assisted the first engine company in getting the heavy hoses to some of the five hydrants used to douse the fire. “They wanted to do something to help,” Jackson said. “It was a great thing.”

The fact that there were no lives lost and no injuries suffered, “is a true account of our firefighters,” he said. The building was less than half-occupied, which made the rescuers’ task less daunting.

The fire is the third major residential fire in five months and the first apartment fire in a decade, Jackson said.

Now comes the aftermath.

Rev. Mark Moore of Belmont Baptist Church, 5430 Belmont Road,  is coordinating the aid effort. Immediate needs are for clothing, bedding, towels, sheets, toiletries and non-perishable groceries, particularly items that can be made quickly and easily.  Grocery and big-box store gift cards would also be appreciated. However, none of the residents is settled yet, so furniture needs have not yet been determined.

One of the displaced families has eight children ranging in age from toddlers to teens, so girls’ and boys’ clothing of all sizes is needed, Moore said. Toys and books, preferably new,  also would be appreciated.

“My understanding is they lost it all,” Moore said of the residents, who escaped with only their lives.

Local residents who wish to donate can bring items to the church between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily through the next  or call (630)963-2230 for an appointment.

More good news

Todd McDaniel, principal of Henry Puffer school is also working closely with the displaced families who have children at the school.

Both his school community and others — including a Pierce Downer mother who arrived first thing Tuesday morning with four new backpacks — have sprung into action, McDaniel said.

The school is collecting clothing for the six children affected by the fire, while staff members brought the families groceries and pizza for dinner last night.

“There’s been a steady stream of people bringing in small appliances, linens and bedding,” McDaniel said. “It’s really unbelievable. This is when a community’s true integrity is tested.”

Businesses have also been quick to help. One of the families lost their car keys in the fire and were concerned how to gain access to their older automobile. Bob Carter Auto Body not only found a used steering column and keys, but also offered to donate all labor for the repair, McDaniel said.

O’Hare Towing, another local company stepped up to tow the car into Carter’s — again at no charge.

Meanwhile, McDaniel met Mike Busse, president of the Community Bank of Downers Grove, to establish a fund to help with rent, utilities,  food, medication and other necessities for the three Puffer school families who lost their homes.

Checks made payable to  “Puffer Elementary Fire Fund” can be dropped off or mailed to Community Bank of Downers Grove, Attn: Jeanine Sorn, 1111 Warren Avenue, Downers Grove, IL  60515

Jackson was one of five finalists chosen to interview for the position following a competitive search.  “Jim Jackson’s outstanding leadership qualities, organizational knowledge and demonstrated commitment to efficiency and innovation make him the best person for the job,” said Village Manager Dave Fieldman.

Jackson has spent 22 years at the DGFD, serving as a fire fighter, technical rescue coordinator, lieutenant and, since November 2001, as deputy chief.

During his tenure with the department, Jackson has worked as planning chief with the Illinois Urban Search and Rescue team and was an integral part of the team responsible for the design and construction of the new Fire Station 2, as well as operational changes recently undertaken to address current financial conditions, according to a village press release.

“I am very proud to serve the Downers Grove community as Fire Chief and look forward to leading the men and women of the department who share my commitment to providing top notch fire protection and emergency medical services,” said Jackson, who will assume his duties as fire chief effective immediately.

These talks, presented by the League of Women Voters, are golden opportunities to hear and learn direct from department heads about where they are and what challenges and opportunities they see coming that will effect us all.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 – State of the Downers Grove Fire Department - Speaker: either the new Fire Chief or one of the Deputy Fire Chiefs – DG Fire Administration Building, 7:30 P.M.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 – State of the Police Departments – Downers Grove and Woodridge – Speakers: DG Chief Robert Porter and Woodridge Chief Steve Herron, 7:30 P.M.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 – State of the Village of Downers Grove - Speakers: DG Mayor Ron Sandack and Village Manager Dave Fieldman, 7:30 P.M.

Saturday, May 15, 2010 – Annual Meeting Luncheon + State of the Village of Woodridge - Mayor William Murphy and Village Administrator Kathleen Rush; at Seven Bridges Golf Course Restaurant, One Mulligan Drive, Woodridge (on Route 53 south of 63rd Street) 10:00 A.M.

The League of Women Voters is an organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, and advocates education through the programs and speakers it provides for the public.

League of Women Voters of Downers Grove, Woodridge, and Lisle can be reached at 630-958-3706. or via email.

-Mark Thoman