STERLING, Ill. — Construction work has begun to provide safety improvements to an intersection in rural Sterling.
Crews began work Friday, Nov. 5 to add temporary stop signs to convert the intersection at Science Ridge Road / Illinois Route 40 from a two-way stop to a four-way stop. The location will eventually be transformed into a roundabout, an idea proposed by the Illinois Department of Transportation in April 2021.
A Morrison man 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, according to Alex Williams.
"He was just going through it 55 mph or about that speed, so we don't know if there was distraction, if he just missed it," Williams said about the driver of the car. "I know that he had never been on that road before.... He was a good driver. I've seen him driver before, and he's very usually a non-distracted driver, he makes sure that he stops, he drives under the speed limit. He is a very good kid."
He added that he doesn't blame either driver, and, "All I can do is hopefully make that intersection safer for the next person that comes through it."
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation's safety database, the intersection at Science Ridge Road / Illinois Route 40 was the scene of 20 crashes between 2015 and 2020. From 2016 to date, the Whiteside County Sheriff's Department has reported six, half resulting in serious injuries.
During an IDOT virtual, public meeting about the intersection's safety last spring, a construction engineer explained that the majority of those crashes were found to be angle crashes, meaning both vehicles are going straight, resulting in a T-bone type crash. The crashes also involved "Type A" or incapacitating injuries.
"The number and severity of the crashes immediately caused us to delve further into the situation and determine what we could do to improve this situation," Michael Kuehn said.
Kuehn added that several of the crashes occurred after the driver stopped on Science Ridge Road, but then continued into the intersection and were hit by a vehicle coming perpendicular on Illinois Route 40. This could be 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, he said.
At first, Williams had proposed adding rumble strips and larger stop signs with flashing lights on Science Ridge Road to officials with the state and the township of Sterling. Those were installed in early March 2021.
"Everything that happens above that is just a huge bonus," Williams said. "When somebody goes, you know, your ideas, they're great and they're a great start, but we need to take it a step farther and actually make sure that things are safe here. And that's a great feeling."
The rumble strips are on both sides of Science Ridge Road and Illinois 40 before the intersection. Currently, there are flashing red beacons on the Science Ridge Road stop signs. Construction crews added temporary stop signs on Illinois 40 on Tuesday, Nov. 9. Other changes will include raised islands to separate right turns onto Illinois 40 and two "stop ahead" signs with flashing yellow lights.
The goal is to reduce the number of conflicts causing angle crashes, improve sight distance, reduce obstructions that drivers using the turn lane cause, and manage speed.
"The current four-way stop measure is only a temporary mitigation and the best way to reduce crashes and crash severity at this intersection is to build a roundabout," Paul Wappel, a Public Information Officer with IDOT said in a statement to News 8.
"Stop signs don't slow down traffic. If somebody is going to run that stoplight, they're still going to run it at 55 to 65 miles an hour," Williams said. "That T-bone collision or head on type collision is still going to happen and still a fatality or possible fatality. With the roundabout, they can reduce speed coming in. It's low impact, so this might not cut down on the amount of accidents, there could still be however many accidents in a year that is averaged out there, but it will make them all low impact accidents."
The roundabout will be a 14-foot-wide single lane. Surrounding the center of the roundabout would be a 14-foot-wide concrete truck apron, providing extra space for large trucks, farm equipment and emergency vehicles. Lighting around the roundabout would also be installed.
Williams said there has been a lot of backlash over the safety improvements. Some say they don't want to stop at a stop sign, while others say larger vehicles won't be able to drive around the roundabout. According to Williams, the state was thorough in its research and invited feedback about the roundabout.
"They said you come to us, we will set up a time, we will use a parking lot, we will put cones out that will show you the size of the roundabout," he said. "Then you can bring your equipment through it, and if you can't make it through, we will adjust."
Seeing the construction improvements is "a big weight off my chest," Williams said. He's hopeful that it'll help save lives.
"For all the people that don't like it, I'm sorry that you don't like it, but I will tell you a funeral costs $12,500, a burial plot is $750, a headstone usually runs around $2,000 to $2,500," he said. "Losing a child at the age of 15, you're robbed of your entire future and their future, so slow down and put up with that roundabout. That's probably the message, and the only message that I have for anybody that doesn't like it because they have to slow down for 10 seconds of their life."
He's also hopeful this will encourage other people to report unsafe intersections when they see them.
According to Wappel, IDOT is in Phase I of the engineering process for the roundabout, which includes environmental reviews, required public involvement and other coordination with agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration. Funding for the roundabout has been approved and construction is in IDOT's 2022-27 Multi-Year Plan. Current construction is expected to be completed by spring 2022.