Roundabout at state Route 40 and Science Ridge in Sterling opens

STERLING – Construction of a roundabout at state Route 40 (Locust Street) and Science Ridge Road, on the northern outskirts of the city, wraps up Wednesday, Oct. 4.

The Illinois Department of Transportation built the traffic conveyance to make the crash-prone intersection safer. The work on the $3.2 million project began July 24.

Speed and an increasing volume of traffic at the site prompted IDOT’s decision to install a roundabout, which will slow but not stall traffic.

A history IDOT keeps of troublesome intersections, or crash report, showed an increase in collisions there, 29 between 2016 and 2022 and several more after that.

It was a problem IDOT District 2 staff in Dixon long were aware of.

The intersection was headed for a study to find a solution, but staff went to their bosses and asked them to speed up the process after 15-year-old Natalie Williams of Morrison was killed Oct. 26, 2020. Her 16-year-old driver, eastbound on Science Ridge, pulled out in front of an oncoming northbound semitruck. Natalie died at the scene.

That crash was emblematic of the flaws with the intersection: Many of the collisions there involved drivers stopping at the stop signs at east-west running Science Ridge, then heading onto or through Route 40 and getting hit because they couldn’t see far enough up or down Route 40 or, more likely, because they underestimated the speed of oncoming traffic.

Shortly after Natalie’s death, IDOT did a study, and in November 2022 announced plans to build the roundabout.

In March 2021, Sterling Township, which maintains Science Ridge, cut rumble strips into the road and IDOT installed a four-way flashing stop as an interim safety measure.

That was not made permanent because IDOT said over time, the ongoing increase in traffic from nearby Wahl Clipper and other businesses, as well as potential residential developments in the area, will cause a backup.

The new Route 40 roundabout has a 14-foot-wide circulating single lane. The center of the roundabout and long splitter islands will deflect entering vehicles.

A 14-foot-wide concrete truck apron, just outside of the central island, will accommodate large trucks, farm equipment and emergency vehicles, allowing them to maneuver through the circle.

Entering vehicles will yield to traffic circulating counterclockwise.

This is the second roundabout for Sterling. The city built one at Lynn Boulevard and LeFevre Road, which opened three years ago this month, to handle an expected increase in traffic. A third is being built on Wallace Street and Avenue B as part of the city’s riverfront redevelopment.