WEST CITY, Ill. (WSIL) -- The community came together on Thursday morning to unveil a sign in remembrance of three teens who were tragically killed in a car crash.
The Benton/West City Area Chamber of Commerce, along with other community leaders and members, gathered along Benton Field Road, just south of West City, to rename a bridge at the spot where the crash occurred back on September 16, 2023.
The three Benton teens who were killed in the car crash were Landen Agnitsch, Joecy Padavic and Bradley Williams.
Members of the community unveiled the new bridge sign, calling it the "Joecy Padavic, Landen Agnitsch and Bradley Williams Memorial Bridge".
Friends and family also placed roses at the base of the sign post as well. Afterwards, friends and family held a moment of silence.
“There’s a lot of love in this community still for these three children, y’know the painting of the bridge, the leaving flowers on the tree," Franklin County Board Member Ray Minor said. "So there’s a lot of emotions still taking place at this location, a lot of healing still taking place, so this sign and the renaming of this bridge is going to help with our community’s healing.�
Community leaders also are working on efforts to remove a hill near the bridge in hopes to prevent future crashes.
“Our goal here is to get rid of this hill back here behind us," Franklin County Engineer Matt Barnett said. "We would like to flatten that out and improve the sight distance. We’re trying to take the hill out, so it’s not dangerous in the future to kinda avoid accidents like this from happening again. We’ve secured funding.�
