Residents call Harlem & 99th intersection a ‘death trap’

The pain of a life cut short and the frustration of years of delay collided at the Chicago Ridge Village Board meeting Tuesday night.

Residents and officials demanded faster action on what they call a “death trap” intersection at Harlem Avenue and 99th Street.

The meeting came days after a crash on Aug. 31 killed 22-year-old Malik Aburas and left two others in critical condition.

“This intersection is literally called a death trap,” resident Yasmine Tolaymat, who lives at the corner and created a petition for changes, told the board. 

“I live right there, and I’ve seen it too many times. Even turning right is a danger, we need this fixed before more families are torn apart.”

Longstanding warnings

Trustee Elaine Davenport said the dangers have been documented for years. She recalled a 2021 analysis by Deputy Chief of Police Anthony Layman that reviewed crash reports from 2017 through 2021.

“What he found was that not only do we have a common sense understanding that that’s kind of a dangerous intersection, the numbers and the statistics show that it is a higher risk intersection,” Davenport said. 

“He found that 81 percent of the accidents and incidents at that intersection were because of the left-hand turns.”

Davenport explained that Layman recommended a protected left-turn signal, a longer turn lane, and new signage. She said IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) agreed to make the changes in 2022 but scheduled the work for late 2026.

“We can’t give the impression that we are powerless with respect to making that intersection safer,” she said. “We can reach out to IDOT and say, hey, listen, this needs to get done sooner than later.”

Tickets and enforcement

Trustee Ed Kowalski noted how active police have been at the site. “Sixty-four tickets were written today,” he said at the meeting. 

Officials added that between December 2023 and Sept. 1, 2025, officers issued 116 citations at the intersection.

Trustee Roger Meslar urged residents to contact lawmakers directly. “Senator Willie Preston is the state senator for that area, and he is running for Congress – I have reached out to him as well,” he said. 

“You’d be surprised how much a potential voter can influence someone who’s running for office.”

Trustee William McFarland reminded residents how long it can take to deal with the state. “When I first got out, I thought it was a stoplight at 99th in Ridgeland, it took almost five years to get off, we as a board approved it, it still took IDOT five years,” he said.

Village response

Mayor John Lind stressed that the village has been working on the problem but cannot control the state’s pace.

“We’ve been working on it, and unfortunately, there was a tragic accident,” Lind said. 

“My thoughts and prayers belong to everybody, we’re doing everything we can as we should–  that’s why we’re elected, and we’re gonna continue to do it.”

The crash has pushed neighbors to speak out, with Tolaymat’s petition already drawing thousands of signatures.

“We would have had 5,000 signatures if people weren’t afraid to donate to the website,” Tolaymat told trustees. “The support is there, the fear is there, we will keep pushing until something is done.”