These Are The Most Dangerous Intersections In Chicago
By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 15, 2014 7:00PM
Wicker Park's six corners "crotch" intersection of North, Damen and Milwaukee Avenues tops Active Transportation Alliance's most dangerous intersections list. (Photo credit: Mike Travis)
Crossing the street in Chicago can sometimes be like playing a real-life game of “Frogger”—with pedestrians as the frogs. The Active Transportation Alliance has specifically targeted the dangers of being a pedestrian in the city in recent weeks and kicked off its “Safe Crossings” campaign Tuesday by revealing its list of the 10 most dangerous intersections in Chicago and Cook County.
There are some familiar intersections on the list, such as Wicker Park’s six corners “crotch” intersection of Milwaukee, Damen and North Avenues. Other six corner crossings on the list include Halsted Street, Fullerton and Lincoln Avenues; and Western, Diversey and Elston Avenues. Two intersections in Austin make the list, at Cicero and Chicago Avenues, and Cicero Avenue and Madison Street. Dearborn and Ontario Streets also make the list.
Active Trans is pushing for safer pedestrian crossings because their findings show Chicago pedestrian deaths are higher than state and federal averages. One-third of Chicago traffic fatalities involve pedestrians, compared to 14 percent statewide. Meanwhile, hit-and-run drivers accounted for 40 percent of pedestrian fatalities in the city; the national average is 20 percent. Another recent survey by Active Trans revealed only 18 percent of drivers stopped at traditional painted pedestrian crossings when people attempted to cross the street. Worse, only 5 percent of drivers stopped at “unmarked crosswalks”—meaning a crosswalk is present whenever a sidewalk leads into the street, regardless of if there are markings present.
We've included Active Trans' report below.