On the third day of school, Kevin Hendren, a junior advisor and AP Chemistry teacher, was hit by a car while crossing Winnetka Avenue.

According to Hendren, the vehicle turned into the crosswalk as he was walking and struck him. While Hendren was not severely hurt, he did suffer bruising and shoulder pain.

“The accident seemed surreal,” said Hendren. “That is not how you want to start your school year.”

When asked if he felt there needed to be more precautions taken at crosswalks around the school, Hendren replied, “the signs are adequate, and it really is up to the individual responsibility of the driver.”

Hendren also urged students and staff to be aware of their surroundings when walking to school. He said that accidents can happen to anyone, and the effects of being in an accident linger.

Athena Arvanitis, Director of Student Life, explained that the school’s main challenge in ensuring traffic safety lies in prioritization. There are approximately 3,000 students and 700 employees who step in to and out of New Trier each day, during school hours. This creates a huge task for PPS staff and traffic controllers. According to Arvanitis, New Trier focuses its staff on Winnetka Avenue because the street is considered to be the main artery for traffic flow.

Traffic controllers and Physical Plant Services (PPS) staff are posted at three locations along the street, and are always in contact with each other. They are responsible for informing the PPS staff as to when to allow pedestrians to cross the street safely.
Arvanitis urged parents and students to be aware of pedestrian traffic.

“New Trier does not have a designated drop off area. We try to promote to parents to use the Indian Hill parking lot for pick up and drop off to help reduce the amount of cars on Winnetka Avenue,” said Arvanitis.

The accident came on the heels of a nine-year, $650,000 project to improve the safety of the Green Bay Road/Winnetka Avenue intersection that included adding a left turn lane northbound and traffic turn signals in all directions.

The crosswalks were also consolidated to be better coordinated with the traffic signals, and the Pace bus stop was moved to the north side of Winnetka Avenue.

According to the Village of Winnetka, the renovations were necessary. There have been numerous pedestrian and car accidents in and around the intersection, and many of them have been caused by the confusing walking paths and turn signals.
Most notable was a hit-and-run incident that occurred right after school in 2011 in which a sophomore was critically injured.

“The previous configuration allowed numerous pedestrian movements through the intersection that were not always clear,” said Steve Saunders, Winnetka Village Engineer, in an interview in September 2013.

Arvanitis also reminded all drivers to be a little more aware of pedestrian traffic during high traffic hours.

“It’s a big operation each day to ensure the safety of all who travel to New Trier each day. The traffic signs are posted clearly along the crosswalks. I only hope that people read and respect them.”

Grateful that Hendren was not hurt seriously, Arvantis urged students and staff to be aware of pedestrian traffic.