When Orland Park resident Bill Goodwin bought his home in the 8200 block of 145th Place decades ago he loved the fact that his home and others in the subdivision had no sidewalks.
In fact, he said the 1998 annexation agreement stipulated that no sidewalks were to be built in that subdivision.
So, you can imagine his confusion when he awoke Friday to a letter in his mailbox stating that the village was beginning to saw-cut driveways and prepare to construct concrete sidewalks on the north side of 145th Place on Monday, October 6. The project was projected to last three to four weeks.
“I was shocked,” he said.
Then on Monday, he and those same neighbors received a letter stating that the “145th Place Sidewalk Project is temporarily on hold while the village evaluates other options.”
“We moved here because the homes didn’t have sidewalks,” Goodwin said. “We didn’t want them then and we don’t want them now. THere is no need for sidewalks. We like the country feel the homes have in this subdivision.”
He and a handful of neighbors attended the village board meeting Monday night to express their concerns to the mayor and trustees.
Mayor JIm Dodge told the residents that the village will work with them on a solution.
“Nothing is going to happen until we meet with you,” he assured them.
The thing is, mopes in all of these “save money, live like a bumpkin” areas are walking in the street. When a vehicle approaches, they hardly even move over, and dog forbid they walk in the grass or gravel!
Then they do it at night, too, with like a red-pen light “for visibility”. We ALL have seen them. Orland, Palos Heights and Park…then when somebody gets hit, they want to bemoan the “senseless tragedy”. It WAS senseless alright, because not having sidewalks where people live in non-rural (no, Orland and the like are NOT ‘rural’) areas especially children, is dumb as dumb can be.
Times change, we use fire and have indoor plumbing. Sidewalks (and streetlights!) are not going to bring in crime or lower your property value or whatever other nonsense.
Illinois has a housing shortage anyway. These folks should put their money where their mouth is and really commit to the bit. Arkansas is lovely this time of year, right?
The same thing might happen in Oak Forest. The reason given was because of people who walk to the train. Being retired, I see a LOT of what goes on and it’s not people walking to the train I see a lot of people walking their dogs who like to sniff grass and not concrete. I also see people staggering home from the bar. Also, some seniors will not be able to shovel the snow.
When you get older, are you going to walk on street and wait for a car to hit you? What about kids in the subdivision? Where do they walk until they are old enough to drive. How myopic.
Sidewalks keep pedestrians off the street and safe. In many cases bicyclists too. Sidewalks are a necessity in urban living.
Yes Sir Duffy I agree
They live there, they should have some control. If most of them want to leave it, leave it. Has it become a dangerous situation or do some people just want to tell other people what to do? Or does somebody’s brother have the concrete contract?
It’s time for a change, the world is changing, the towns are changing. Nothing stays the same. It if did we would be in the dark age. Safety begins here!!!!
Responsible citizens…….trust your elected Mayor. He knows what’s best for the O P residents.
Let’s be real, the history behind suburban lack of sidewalks isn’t to give it a “country feel”. People aren’t going to magically appear and start loitering or stumbling home drunk from the imaginary bar. What’s crazy is that people would rather cling to a false narrative of rural life than keep pedestrians safe. Being great is dangerous.
The problem with sidewalks is when you need them is when it is snowy and icy and the city doesn’t keep them plowed. An why should you have to shovel them don’t you have a enough things to do like work to pay all the taxes that are required to live in this country? An not to mention the city never keeps the sidewalks backfilled properly so you’re almost always fighting the raised edge of the sidewalk when mowing the grass. An again not to mention all the people that still walk, run, and ride there bicycles on the street but the safety issues that are created by that raised edge between the concrete and the dirt, like snapping a ankle, falling off your bicycle because the sidewalks aren’t wide enough and you’re trying to get around someone. An there’s probably many more reasons.
The main question is, are there a lot of people getting hit by cars now? An no children should not be playing in the streets!! Unless you don’t like them!
Wider sidewalks is the best answer. The public easement, for all, every one.
Unless you live on a farm, sidewalks are necessary for safety
For all of this sidewalk safety nonsense, most of these specific neighborhoods have this feature. In fact, I would rather more SPEED BUMPS be installed to stop people RACING through the neighborhoods. More concrete sidewalks, more poles, more things to BREAK, in small towns with small budgets is not economical. 134th and Ridgeland are adding street poles in the forest preserves for the coyotes. Cars won’t need them if they have headlamps at night. Again, these are examples where its a waste of man power, resources, and more.
Don’t use SAFETY as a point of outrage, because walking in grass doesn’t hurt anyone either. The outrage is drastically changing neighborhoods or forest preserves with features that are a drain.
How is safety nonsense? How are kids and adults supposed to ride bikes on the grass? Nobody would walk on the grass, you can sprain your ankle, and fall on your face walking on uneven surfaces.
Speed bumps are a huge pain, installing a speed camera would be a better option.
Where are people supposed to walk, on
the street? Or nobody walks in that neighborhood? How does a sidewalk affect your neighborhood negatively? Walking is good for our health, and it’s fun, it’s where the kids learn to ride bikes.
I would be excited to have sidewalks, not complaining about it.