STERLING, Illinois — Drivers are getting used to a new roundabout just north of Sterling, Illinois. The intersection of Science Ridge Road and Illinois Route 40 used to be a two-way stop and was the scene of several accidents.
One father has been working to improve the intersection's safety after his daughter was killed in an accident there in October 2020. Natalie Williams, who was 15 at the time, was the passenger in a car when her friend missed the stop sign, and they were hit by a semi-truck.
"It wasn't like the semi was at fault," Alex Williams said. "They just drove through the intersection. They didn't even do it at a full 55, they were doing 45 miles an hour. So how that sign was missed, no one knows. We don't know if there was a distraction, if something was going on. We just know that they went through it and they never touched the brakes."
They were driving to get supplies for the new hamster Natalie and her sister got that morning. Alex described his daughter as an animal lover.
"I got a message from my stepson asking if I knew anything about where Natalie was at because he had heard that there was an accident," he said. "No one at the time knew anything. So I tried calling Natalie's phone and it rings and it rings and rings and no answer. So I had called Natalie's mother. And the coroner was at her house at the time."
Alex later learned from a police officer who had been at the scene how dangerous that intersection has been.
"That's when you know action needs to be taken," he said, "so I made the decision that my voice was going to be heard."
A study from the Illinois Department of Transportation later reported 20 accidents there between 2015-2020, with a majority of them being T-bone-type crashes resulting in serious injuries. It found that several of the crashes occurred after the driver stopped on Science Ridge Road, but then continued into the intersection. IDOT believes it could have been due to insufficient sight distance or when a driver thinks they have enough time to cross safely, but the oncoming traffic is faster than it appears.
"I just wanted rumble strips on Science Ridge Road," Alex said. "That would have been enough to jolt those kids out of whatever was happening, and they would have stopped."
IDOT installed rumble strips in 2021 and also converted it to a four-way stop. Studies determined a roundabout was the best option since they're designed to slow down traffic and make crashes more low-impact.
Oct. 26 will mark three years since Natalie's death.
"With the loss of a child, I don't think that how old that child is matters. I think it's just you've lost a child," Alex said. "It starts out as a very sharp pain, and it stays that way for a very long time. Then you just learn how to live with a sharp pain."
Now, just days before that anniversary, Alex's work to help fix the unsafe area has come to fruition.
"We have tried at every turn to make Natalie's memory positive. We have tried to make something good," he said.
That's what he hopes others, who may not be fans of the new traffic pattern, realize.
"You can go round and round in that and know that you're not going to die, because I lost my daughter there, and I made that change," Alex said. "Now, you don't have to worry about a call late at night because something happened at Science Ridge Road and Route 40 anymore. If something does happen there, it's a minor fender bender. You're going to pull off the side of the road, you're going to call your insurance company, you're gonna go home that night."
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