Lack Of Lights, Sidewalks, Crosswalks Make Stretch Of Touhy Avenue Deadly For Airport Service Workers Heading To Bus Stop
DES PLAINES, Ill. (CBS) -- No sidewalks and no lights make for a deadly combination along a stretch of Touhy Avenue in Des Plaines.
The stretch is near O'Hare International Airport, and two airline service workers have been killed on the stretch in less than a year. CBS 2's Charlie De Mar walked the stretch to investigate.
The closest crosswalk on the stretch of Touhy Avenue is several blocks away – barely visible from the point where workers catch a bus.
There is no sidewalk and no lights, and cars speed by nonstop.
"That's an expressway. This is not a street. That is an expressway," said Nancy Ward. "I'm scared to cross the street."
Nancy Rainey had just wrapped up her shift at LSG Sky Chefs near O'Hare around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Rainey, 56, tried crossing the unlit and extremely busy stretch of Touhy Avenue to catch the bus, and was hit and killed by a Mack truck.
The truck driver was not charged.
"She was loved by everybody – very soft-spoken, beautiful woman," said Ward, who worked with Rainey.
"We're all going to miss her. She was a real good person; really good coworker," added colleague Jesus Hernandez.
"We had just a conversation, not even 10 minutes before came to try to cross the street," said colleague Kelly Grillier.
Rainey is the second LSG Sky Chefs employee to be killed within the year. In December of last year, a woman was hit by three cars as she tried crossing the street for the bus.
"What's it going to take for Des Plaines to put a stop sign out here for our employees to stop getting killed?" Ward said.
"The first person that passed away or even got hit, there should have been something done – even long before Nancy was in this situation," Grillier said.
On Wednesday night, CBS 2 spotted a man gingerly crossing the dark stretch of Touhy, with headlights barely making him visible.
But another airport service worker said he and his colleagues have no choice but to cross.
"We have to," he said, "because if you want to get home, you've got to take the bus, and you have to cross."
"Something's got to be done," Ward said. "Something's got to be done."
This stretch of Touhy Avenue where the accidents happened is maintained by the State of Illinois. A spokesman said there are no projects or plans in the works right now for safety improvements, but the state is open to working with the City of Des Plaines to try and find a solution.
