La Grange Park convinces IDOT to reduce LaGrange Road speed limit
Motorists speeding into La Grange Park on LaGrange Road could be in for a rude awakening.
La Grange Park’s Take Five campaign finally bore fruit when the Illinois Department of Transportation agreed to lower the speed limit from 30 to 25 mph on LaGrange Road, the busiest road in the village.
“I’m just as excited that we were able to get this project passed,” said Village President James Discipio. “This is an important step for La Grange Park.”
Discipio thanked village staff for their persistence in achieving change, saying Village Manager Julia Cedillo, Assistant Village Manager Maggie Jarr, Police Chief Tim Contois and Fire Chief Dean Maggos all played key roles in the effort.
“They worked extremely hard to produce information and documents for IDOT,” he said. “They finally looked at it and said yes, it was the right thing to do.”
IDOT owns LaGrange Road, and when the village first contacted the public agency about reducing the speed limit from 5 mph, the state was initially reluctant.
“Really, it’s because of everyone’s perseverance to persevere, even though we were told no multiple times,” Discipio said. “We came back down because we knew it was the right thing to do. Our residents were afraid to cross LaGrange Road in our business district. Our main goal has always been the safety of our residents and being consistent with what was already posted at Countryside and La Grange.”
The speed limit on the downtown La Grange thoroughfare is 20 mph, increasing to 25 mph south of downtown to 47th Street, where it rises to 30 mph toward La Grange Park. But motorists do not always respect this limit either.
“Everyone thinks it’s not 30, it’s 39, everyone would speed up,” Discipio said.
He said the curved nature of the road leading into the village also creates “dangers and concerns from our residents”.
Village officials have officially requested that the speed limit be lowered in July 2024. IDOT approved the change earlier this month, and village workers wasted no time implementing it by changing the signs on November 12.
“I never thought we would get there because IDOT was persistent in preventing this from happening,” Discipio said. “There’s a lot of ownership in what IDOT does. They’re really possessive of their roads. They want to move traffic, they don’t want to block it. Their goal is to move traffic and keep it flowing.”
He said a change in leadership at IDOT likely helped spur change after state Transportation Secretary Gia Biagi was appointed to the position by Gov. JB Pritzker in late 2024.
“Gia Biagi really made a difference and said we have to do this,” he said. “This happened and it took perseverance, knowing that we are doing the right thing for the safety of our residents.”
Discipio said simply lowering the speed limit on LaGrange Road does not mean the end of the village’s efforts to increase road safety. These efforts include the hiring of two additional police officers.
“We’re pretty low right now — we’re down to two,” he said. “But we’re going to have to work with the budget and see where it goes. The main thing is that we have enough officers to ensure that it’s effective when we reduce the speed limit.”
Hank Beckman is a freelance journalist for Pioneer Press.
