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CHICAGO--A lethal intersection in the path of children going to and from school energized leaders of Chicago's Brighton Park Neighborhood Council to demand a traffic light for the crossing, on the corner of 36th Street and California Avenue. Residents say the number of accidents at this intersection has skyrocketed to more than 200 over the last 12 months.

Local alderman Ray Frias around March received a petition signed by hundreds of area residents requesting the light. He said he had sent the request on to the city's transportation department. But a check with the agency found no record of any such request. "He lied to us," Kathleen Gudziunas of Brighton Park said. "That is why we invited officials from Dept. of Transportation to our meeting as well as Ald. Frias."

A meeting on the issue drew more than 300 people--but no Frias. Another local alderman was wiser and chose to not only show up but pledged to install a stop light at another dangerous intersection in the neighborhood, to set up a four-way stop at yet another intersection, and to fix a ditch under the street at a third location. The local police commander agreed to give special police attention to several dangerous blocks heavy with gang activity, and the sanitation department committed to clean all the neighborhood's sewers.

When Frias stiffed the group at their meeting, they followed up by visiting his office a few days later on a weekday afternoon. The action turned angry when the alderman attempted to pack his office with his own supporters, then Brighton Park's leaders left to rally at the intersection in question. The event garnered media attention that further embarrassed the alderman.

"We surveyed the neighborhood, talked with everyone from the crossing guards to the principal at Burroughs, gathered hundreds of signatures in support of it, and Alderman Frias still won't help us," said Kimberley Blancas, an angry parent of five children who attend Burroughs Elementary school located in Brighton Park. "We don't want to see any more kids hurt at this intersection. It is such a waste, when a few thousand dollars could save so many lives."

Frias is still on the hot seat and the group is both working to pressure him further and seeking alternative avenues to win the needed stop light.