Accident at Main and Illinois

 Accident at the corner of Main and Illinois this evening.  This corner, the corner of Main and University and the intersection of 13 and Giant City Road are the places most likely one will get into a wreck in Carbondale.  It appears so bad that the city has installed camerals at the Main and Illinois and Main and Universtiy locations.  Not sure if they have one at the Giant City location but, given the number of accidents there, I would be suprsied if they do not.

Intersection

 The intersection at the intersection of West Mill and the South University Ave. cutoff needs more signing to remind people that cars coming from the left no longer stop. There are accidents and near-accidents almost daily there as people turning onto West Mill from South University expect drivers coming from the S. University & S. Illinois & S. Mill intersection to stop at a now non-existent stop sign.

having people stop at the stop sign is also unsafe because the distance between the S. University and West M ill intersection and the 5 way intersection to the east is so short that cars stopping there risk getting hit by those heading south on S. University. 

Accident

 Someone lost control of their car in the Old Train Depot parking lot this afternoon. The ran over a parking meter and bench and ended up elevated with the nose of his car pressed against the Depot wall. The driver kept rocking the car back and forth trying to free it but only wound up blowing a tire and ripping out the gas line. Police and fire departments were on the scene as of 5 p.m. today.

Accident

 Accident at the intersection of Walnut and Illinois shortly after 9 a.m. this morning. A SUV apparently t-boned a Carbondale police vehicle. Not exactly the sort of car you want to hit as it is very hard to disput what happened to the police. Fire and police vehicles were on site about 9:30 but traffic was moving smoothly and I saw no ambulance so do not think anyone was injured.

TJ's Fine Jewelry

 TJ's Fine Jewelry on West Main  got hit by an SUV last night. Plowed through the front of the store. Major damage to the front of the store but no one was injured and no product lost. Apparently a case of someone driving under the influence.

Cameras

 Given the number of accidents that take place at intersections in Carbondale, it might be a good idea for the city to install cameras at the intersections of 13 and Giant City Road as well as both intersections of 13 and Illinois and 13 and Walnut. Not wanting them there for ticketing purposes but if drivers knew they were on camera at that location, they might drive more defensively and there would be less question as to whose fault the accident was.

There was an accident at the corner of Main and Illinois about a week ago and one car wound up on the sidewalk next to Thai Taste. Happily, it did not hit the building as happened two previous times.

Illinois and Main Intersection

 Not sure what can be done but there are quite a few wrecks at the intersection of Main and Illinois. , two of which have rammed into the wall of Thai Taste, necessitating the restaurant's closure until the wall's repair. Another one took place this past Sunday night. From what I could tell, one car headed west on Main when another one turned left from Illinois onto Main, directly into the first one's path.

I know cars regularly make left turns from Illinois onto Main on red from both the left and center lanes, setting up the potential for an accident. Maybe putting up a sign saying "No left turn on red" ?  Likely will not stop people who want to do it but might make them double check before pulling into oncoming traffic.

Car Accidents

 A surprising number of accidents yesterday. I saw a two car accident on East Main right in front of Woodlawn Cemetery about 4 p.m. and another one car accident at the intersection of East Walnut and Lewis Lane a few minutes later.

Just before that, the fire department got called out to Univeristy mall and had to use its crane to access the top of the newer entrance.

Wreck

 Pretty bad three car (at least) wreck this afternoon on East Main street where Main and Walnut split. Driver ran a red light and got hit by a car heading through the intersection.

Accident

Wreck on West Main street in the 200 block about 10:30 pm the night of march 4. Car was heading west on Main at about 80 miles per hour when it clipped the rear end of a car parked at a red light at the interaction of Main and Illinois. The speeding car spun 180 degrees and skidded onto the sidewalk, striking buildings on the south side of the street. Broken windows and some building damage and the driver was hospitalized.

Railroad Accident

From what I have heard from secondhand sources, a train coming through downtown yesterday afternoon stuck a pedestrian crossing the tracks, killing her. While the police and emergency vehicles investigated the scene, the train naturally remained in place, blocking all crossings in town, leaving the only way to get crosstown through the Mill Street Underpass or Pleasant Hill Overpass.

Apparently the woman had an argument with someone at a restaurant in the northeast area of the square, ran out and failed to notice the oncoming train which hit and killed her. The accident took place just before 6 p.m. and police and emergency personnel were on the scene until about 8 p.m., with the train leaving the scene about 8:15

Accident

Best to avoid driving through downtown Carbondale tonight. A freight train hit a pedestrian at the Est Main railroad crossing just before 6 p.m and all of the crossings in downtown are still blocked an hour and a half later. If you are driving east or west through Carbondale, use either the Mill Street Underpass or Pleasant Hill overpass as all other crossings are blocked. Police and ambulances are on the scene and directing traffic away from the area.

Thai Taste Reopens

Thai Taste reopened for business last Saturday at lunch time after closing for 2 days while repairs were made from an accident wherein a car, doing a 180 after getting clipped on the rear end, smashed into the restaurant's north wall. Repairs to a smashed drainpipe were completed Friday and, while Tyvik still covers the hole in the wall, the restaurant reopeend with a clean bill of health Saturday.

Accident

Accident at the corner of Main and Illinois tonight about 7 p.m. From the video, it appears the car in the photo got clipped by another car heading north on Illinois, spun around and went through the wall of Thai Taste. At least one person in the hospital and Thai Taste has closed for the rest of the evening. Very hard to serve customers with a 15' hole in the wall.

Pag's Hit By Car

A car pulling out  at a high rate of speed from the First Mid-American lot across the street failed to make the turn and smashed into the front of Pagliai's this afternoon. Same thing happened back in March of 2012. I would think it would be rather hard for a car to run into the Pag's building but apparently not if you are pulling out from Chris Wissmann Way.

Wreck on West Willow

If you look at the center of the picture, you can see an overturned black SUV blocking traffic in the 400 block of West Willow about 4:45 p.m. on Saturday January 16th. I saw a fire truck and ambulance there and estimated about 6 Carbondale Police cars blocking off the entire street. For those not familiar with the area, this is a borderline residential-industrial area with a speed limit of 30, as you can see on the sign. In order to flip as it did, the SUV likely was travelling at pretty high rate of speed in order to flip as it did

Another Wreck

Seems to be my week for wrecks. This one happened about 8:30 p.m. Friday June the 1st at the corner of Illinois and Main.  No one appears hurt but both cars  are in pretty bad shape.  The police have traffic north on Illinois blocked but it's moving pretty smoothly westbound on Main.  Providing something else for attendees at the Friday Night Festival to watch.

Oakland Wreck

Couple of people decided drag racing on West Willow at 3 a.m. today was a great idea.  Unfortunately, their reflexes didn't match their speed and they missed the curve where Willow meets Oakland.  One hit the corner of the house and a car parked in the driveway, the other went through the garage window.  One of the drivers went to the hospital with broken body parts, the other to jail.  No one in the house was hurt, though one resident was asleep in the room directly above the car.  2 fire trucks, one ambulance, 3 tow trucks and about six police cars were on the scene for over two hours.

More on Polar Bear and Accident

According to an email I received from a reader, Pinch Penny's security at this year's Polar Bear had increased from last year, with private security people walking the parking lot at both Pinch's and Cali's.  Pinch also reduced the total number of people allowed in the beer garden from last year, allowing new people to enter only when an equal number exited.

It also appears there is a hole in the security fence at almost the exact spot where the man was struck by the train Saturday and that people have used it frequently as a short cut to get back to the Towers, even dragging pallets to the spot to make it possible to cross the muddy ditch.

For those not familiar with Carbondale, the accident location is some distance away from any of the bars participating in the Polar Bear activities.  He would have had to travel several blocks after leaving wherever he was drinking in order to get there.