Two West Loop construction sites have neighboring residents concerned for their safety. On Saturday, Aug. 6, two separate car accidents occurred around the sites at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Carpenter Street, causing one injury.
A resident of a neighboring apartment building caught the aftermath of both accidents on video taken from his balcony.
The first crash occurred Saturday afternoon. One car struck another in the intersection, near the McDonald’s headquarters currently being constructed. No one was hurt, but the resident who took the video pointed out there is no stop sign at the intersection, and the surrounding fence prevents drivers from viewing cross traffic.
The second accident took place around 9 p.m. One vehicle was struck by another, causing the first vehicle to break through the wooden barrier surrounding the construction site and fall on its side into a 10-foot hole where a section of elevated sidewalk is being removed along Carpenter street, by the Acorn Lofts building. The driver was injured and was taken by ambulance to the University of Illinois Hospital.
The resident who recorded these incidents spoke to developers weeks ago to inform them that the decreased visibility at the intersection, caused by the surrounding fence, may lead to more accidents in the area.
Following the accidents, two temporary stop signs, which are only waist-high, were placed on Carpenter and Washington. Concrete barriers now surround the 10-foot hole, and the opaque tarps have been removed from the site fencing to improve visibility.
While neighbors say these additions help, they do not believe they will prevent accidents at the intersection. As redevelopment projects go on throughout the West Loop neighborhood, area traffic is growing, leading residents to express the need for a neighborhood traffic safety plan.
When accidents happen because of construction sites that endanger passersby, injury victims may be entitled to compensation. Contact our Chicago construction accident lawyers to learn more about your legal options.
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