Residents urge Shorewood to act after high-speed crash on Burton Boulevard

Residents from Burton Boulevard pressed the Shorewood Village Board on July 8 to address a pattern of speeding and dangerous driving after a June 27 crash. Christine Ozimevich said a driver "going 70 to 80 miles per hour down Burton slammed ... into the rear of my son's parked Ford Ranger," pushing it roughly 50 feet and flipping the other vehicle; she said children were present across the street from Troy Hawfrem Elementary School. Ozimevich distributed a flyer and urged the board to pursue fixes such as stop signs and speed bumps.

Other residents backed the complaint during the public-comment period. Oksana Zabiaka presented a petition signed by Burton Boulevard households and said she has two small children and cannot let them play in the front yard. Crossing guard Nette Sartori described repeated near-misses while working at Hofer school and said she has stepped down from crossing duties because it became too dangerous: "I almost got hit 3 times," she said. Neighbor Jason Mesmer said the speeding occurs at all hours and wakes residents at night.

Council response was procedural but concrete: staff noted Burton was designed as a collector road and acknowledged it now carries more traffic than anticipated. The board said it will pursue a traffic study and consider options including speed tables, elevated intersections or narrowing sections of roadway; the mayor (meeting chair) stressed the village would not expect a homeowners association to pay for improvements to a village road. The board committed to follow up with residents and return with proposals.

The board did not make a final decision on physical measures during the meeting; staff said a study would inform whether to install speed-calming devices and how to fund them.