Correction 12/19/25, 3:45 PM: Based on a Google Streetview image I was referred to by one of Walter Mahoney's former coworkers, I reported that Mahoney was struck in a marked intersection with Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons. However, I have since been informed that the image was outdated, and the crosswalk and Beacons were removed in 2022. This article has been update accordingly. I apologize for the error.
Tragically, a driver struck and fatally injured former Tribune Media Services Senior Vice President Walter Mahoney, 74, as he was on one of his daily walks near the Salt Creek Trail System in west-suburban Western Springs. The crash intersection previously had a marked crosswalk with Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons, but the crosswalk and beacons were removed in 2022. A new crosswalk was installed about a quarter of a mile east.
According to police, the driver struck Mahoney on Wednesday, November 19, around 5:15 PM at Ogden Avenue / US-34 and Woodland Avenue, where there's an entrance to Bemis Woods South, a few blocks from Mahoney's home. He was hospitalized and pronounced dead the next day.
The crash site is located just west of a bend in Ogden Avenue, on a stretch that has four lanes. A local police officer I spoke to said he could not provide the make of the vehicle, which direction the driver was traveling, or if there were any citations or charges, but that it would be necessary to FOIA the crash report.
An August 2018 Google Streetview image shows the marked crosswalk with RRFBs that previously existed at Ogden/Woodland, where the driver struck Mahoney.
Installed on caution signs as an alternative to stoplights, RRFBs permit pedestrians and bike riders activate to push-button signals, to request that drivers to stop for them while they are in the crosswalk, as mandated by state law.
However, it's common for drivers to disobey RRFBs, perhaps because their meaning is ambiguous. That can have tragic results.
In June 2016, a motorist struck and killed Joni Beaudry, 55, on her bike in a trail crossing in northwest-suburban Mount Prospect. According to witnesses, Beaudry had turned on the crossing flashing lights prior to entering the road, but the motorist still didn't stop for her.
Another apparent example was in June 2023, when another driver struck and critically injured a man, 27, who was cycling though a trail crossing with RRFBs on Devon Avenue in Chicago's Sauganash community.
Flashing beacons are used in an effort to avoid inconveniencing drivers by forcing them to stop at a stoplight at a mid-block crossing. However, the beacons seem to be dangerous because they may give vulnerable road users a false sense of security that, if they activate the beacons, motorists will definitely stop for them.
Unsurprisingly, back when there were RRFBs at Ogden and Woodland avenues, it was common for drivers to strike vulnerable road users, although I haven't seen any evidence that there were any fatal collisions. "The Western Springs Police Department reports, between 2014 and 2017, there were 29 reported crashes at the Woodland/Ogden bike crossing, 16 of which involved the pedestrian crosswalk," the Tribune reported in March 2018. "One accident was a vehicle versus bicycle accident in 2017, according to police. No accidents have been reported in 2018."
But instead of responding to the crashes at the unsignalized Ogden/Woodland crosswalk by installing a stoplight, the authorities chose to remove the marked crosswalk at an intersection where residents may still want to cross the street. That was also a dangerous thing to do at this location, because the crossing markings that previously existed at least gave drivers a visual warning to watch out for people on foot and bike.
"While there was previously a Rectangular [Rapid] Flashing Beacon pedestrian crossing at Ogden and Woodland Avenues, [the marked crosswalk and beacons were]... removed in 2022," Village of Western Springs spokesperson Selmin Cicek told me.
Instead of crossing Ogden at Woodland, which has more direct access to the Salt Creek Trail, vulnerable road users are now supposed to cross at Wolf Road, roughly a quarter of a mile east. The Ogden/Wolf intersection got a new marked crosswalk on its west leg in 2022. "The project was largely handled by [the Illinois Department of Transportation]," Cicek said.
"The larger, long-term project connected Western Springs to the [Salt Creek Trail]" via a new side path on the west side of Wolf north of Ogden, Cicek added. "Designed to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, the sanctioned crosswalk was relocated on the west side of the Wolf Road intersection."
Indeed, a September 27, 2022 press release from the Village of Western Springs stated that the purpose of the project was "to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists by providing an alternative to the previously uncontrolled crossing at Woodland and Ogden avenues." It added, "The new crossing at the corner of Ogden and Wolf Avenues connects directly to the new path.''
"Signage was installed [at Ogden/Woodland] remained in place for many months, directing pedestrians and cyclists to the new Ogden/Wolf crossing, which connects directly to the new path," Cicek told me.
Unfortunately, the decision to remove the marked crosswalk at Ogden/Woodland did not "improve safety" for Walter Mahoney.
According to his obituary, Mahoney worked at Tribune Media for 38 years, where he "helped develop a newswire service connecting newspapers across the world [and] his work led him all over the globe." During his retirement, he tutored high school students in a GED program and volunteered as a tour guide for the Illinois Holocaust Museum.
"Walter made our workplace feel more human," longtime coworker Matt Maldre told Streetsblog. "He brought curiosity, kindness, and a sense of wonder to everything—even office decorations. I’m better for having known him."
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