Illinois: Tollway overpass named for state trooper

Illinois State Trooper James Sauter was 28 when he died in March 2013 after a semi truck collided with his patrol car along the Tri-State Tollway. On Tuesday, an overpass near the accident site was named for him.

Illinois State Trooper James Sauter was 28 when he died in March 2013 after a semi truck collided with his patrol car along the Tri-State Tollway. On Tuesday, an overpass near the accident site was named for him. (Steve Metsch / Daily Southtown) More than two years after his son, Illinois State Police Trooper James Sauter, died when his patrol car was struck by a semitrailer truck, Don Sauter finds it hard to drive that stretch of the Tri-State Tollway. "I still avoid that part of the highway. It took them a while to clean up where the fire was. It's hard for me to drive past there," Sauter said Tuesday morning before a ceremony honoring his son.

James Sauter, who grew up in Chicago Ridge, was 28 when he died in a traffic accident while on duty March 28, 2013. His police car, parked on the shoulder of the southbound lanes, was hit by a semi-trailer truck.

On Tuesday, the Illinois Tollway and state police teamed to honor Sauter's memory by renaming the Willow Road bridge over the tollway (Interstate 294), near where he died, the "Trooper James Sauter Memorial Overpass." A ceremony was held at a tollway maintenance garage near Touhy Avenue.

State police closed down the northbound lanes so those in attendance could drive under the overpass where the signs — one northbound, one southbound — will be installed.

Dozens of state troopers showed up in full uniform to honor their fallen colleague. Many members of the Sauter family were there, too, as was his widow.

Donald Sauter, who resides in Chicago Ridge with his wife, Eileen, said the family "appreciates that everyone still remembers James 21/2 years later."