‘It’s working, and we feel safer’: New berm keeping vehicles out of Naperville family’s backyard

When he goes into his backyard these days, the top thing on Ryan Daly’s mind is cicadas — not if a car will come crashing through his fence.

A new 3-foot-high berm topped off with a wooden fence has resolved the Naperville man’s concerns about cars barreling through his yard, which backs up to the T-intersection at Washington Street and Naper Boulevard.

“I think it’s a good solution,” Daly said of the improvements that were completed in May. “We feel safer and certainly less worried about somebody coming through the backyard.”

In January, Daly pleaded with Naperville City Council members to do something to fix the intersection that fronts his backyard. At that time, he told council members that four cars had crashed through his fence in the previous 31 months.

“We’re kind of at our wits’ end about what we can do about it,” Daly told the council members in January.

In response, city council members asked staff to conduct a feasibility study for a roundabout at the intersection. The study was expected to cost about $50,000.

Before the study started, Naperville Public Works Director Richard Dublinski suggested the city look into building a berm at the intersection.

Though there were initial questions about drainage, further study showed the city could construct the berm without adversely affecting the drainage through Daly’s backyard.

Construction involved removing older landscaping and building the berm up from the sidewalk along the east side of Naper Boulevard.

The berm slopes up from the sidewalk and then downward into Daly’s yard, said Bill Novak, Naperville’s director of transportation, engineering and development.

Daly’s old wooden fence, which stood at street level, was replaced by a new one atop the berm with landscaping on both sides.

Novak said the price tag for the entire project was under $20,000 — less than the cost for the proposed feasibility study and considerably less than what a roundabout would have cost to build.

“I think it looks great,” Novak said. “It’s already been tested and it works and it’s very cost-effective. It all comes down to the ingenuity of our department of public works.”

While a car crashed into the new berm within weeks of completion, it didn’t touch Daly’s fence. He says he didn’t know about the accident until a neighbor told him.

“I don’t have to pay attention anymore to whether my fence has fallen down or not before I let the dogs out … which is a gift, for sure,” he said.

For Daly and his family, the berm has brought them a sense of safety they didn’t have before. He no longer worries about cars ending up in his yard or waking up to a downed fence.

“It looks great,” Daly said of the berm. “It’s working, and we feel safer.”