Streator council will look at options to improve high school crossing

The Streator City Council is exploring options to make Bloomington Street safer near Streator High School.

The council agreed during Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting the next step is to get a cost estimate for a solar-powered, electronic radar sign, which will tell motorists how fast they are going and to slow down if they are speeding, as well as a cost estimate on a traffic study for the area near the high school.

The council then will determine what action it will take after seeing the cost of both options.

City Engineer Jeremy Palm told the council because Bloomington Street is a state highway, it will require a traffic study for the city to request permission from the Illinois Department of Transportation to install a traffic light along the route. Installation of the electronic radar sign would not require a traffic study, however, Palm said.

Streator resident Jeremy Whitfield spoke at the City Council’s May meeting, requesting a traffic light to help students cross Bloomington Street near Morrell Street. He told the council then that he witnessed as a student the death of Sarah Weibel in 2006 after she was struck by a vehicle and doesn’t believe enough has changed in 17 years to make the street safer. He has made a petition on change.org that has garnered 1,292 signatures, requesting a traffic light for students to push a button and get a red light to safely cross the street, similar to one in place near Northlawn School where Route 23 is a four-lane highway.

Mayor Tara Bedei told the council Tuesday that Streator High School Superintendent Scott Cameron suggested the city look at a “please stop for pedestrians” sign in the middle of Bloomington Street with a crosswalk. Palm said the city could request IDOT’s approval to install one, but he wasn’t optimistic the state agency would go for adding an obstruction into the middle of the state highway, which is a two-lane, one-way road in front of the high school.

The Streator police have an electronic sign that tells motorists how fast they are going and to slow down if they are speeding, but the more-than-a-decade-old sign is need of repair, Deputy Chief Robert Wood told the council Tuesday. The council noted an electronic radar sign would be mobile and could be placed in other parts of the city when school is not in session.

Wood said police officers regularly patrol near the high school, sometimes with their lights on to slow down traffic on the highway.

City Council member David Reed said a citizen suggested to him the high school could incentivize students to park on the west side of Bloomington Street where they would not have to cross the street.

“Doing anything would be better than ignoring the situation,” Reed said during the council’s conversation.

Palm said in 2006 after the student was struck by the vehicle, the city installed crosswalks, flashing warning lights and new signage in an attempt to make the street safer for students.

The school day at Streator High School begins at 8 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m. During these times, the red caution lights are activated near crosswalks and pedestrian traffic is at its heaviest from students.