Natalie’s tragic legacy: A safer intersection is in the works on the north edge of Sterling

STERLING – Twenty-nine crashes in the last 6 years alone. That’s the reality of the intersection just past the northern edge of the city limits, where Locust Street becomes state Route 40 and intersects with the more rural Science Ridge Road.

One of those crashes – not even the last one, mind you – happened a little over 4 months ago, on Oct. 26. It took the life of 15-year-old Natalie Williams, a Morrison High sophomore nicknamed Bug who liked art, and games, and true crime TV.

The driver of the eastbound car, only a year older than Natalie and likely inexperienced, likely unfamiliar with the area, failed to stop at the stop sign and his car was struck on the passenger side by a northbound semi. He was injured; Natalie died at the scene.

It seems the universe, drawing a grieving breath, decided that was the last straw.

Tuesday, after a confluence of conversations by people who at first didn’t even know they were working together, rumble strips were cut into either side of Science Ridge as it approaches Route 40.

That was the work of Sterling Township, which oversees Science Ridge and is paying the Lee County highway department for its time and the use of its equipment.

On back order are flashing lights that will be attached to the signs that warn oncoming motorists of the stop signs ahead, township Road Supervisor Dana Stutzke said.

The actual stop signs now are larger, and outlined with flashing red lights. That’s the work of the Illinois Department of Transportation, which is responsible for Route 40 and the signs on its approach.

For now, those are just temporary, inexpensive fixes.

In the works is a larger IDOT engineering study. Why is that intersection so dangerous, and what can be done to change that?

Engineers will study the lay of the area, the crash history and related crash data – What were the drivers doing? What were the weather conditions? What was the traffic like? – and come up with their recommendations.

In a couple of months, when some possible solutions have been identified, IDOT plans a public hearing to get community input on the potential fixes: realigning roads leading to the intersection, installing a 4-way stop, or maybe a roundabout, maybe just the flashing signs, maybe none of the above, maybe something completely different.

One path will be chosen, and funding will be sought, Becky Marruffo, engineer of program development in the IDOT district office in Dixon, said in an interview last week.

Marruffo lives in Sterling and said she is familiar with that intersection. In fact, most of her colleagues at the Dixon office are from the area, and the day after Natalie’s death, they were texting each other about yet another crash, and what it would take to get an unfunded project off the ground, she said.

Then, when Stutzke was out checking out the intersection in December in preparation for the new signage, he noticed IDOT people across the street, and learned they were doing essentially the same thing, he said Monday.

Both agencies are being spurred on by Ruth Eberle of Wyoming, Natalie’s grandmother, who on behalf of her son Alex has been calling Stutzke, Marruffo, the Whiteside County sheriff’s department, anyone she could think of after her granddaughter’s death, wanting to know what they were going to do about that intersection.

“People have continuously said, ‘Boy something needs to be done about that intersection’,” Eberle said.

Nothing had been done before, because work at that intersection hadn’t been budgeted, Marruffo said. There is a fund, though, that pays for projects deemed necessary, and she is confident it will pay for work done here.

Eberle hasn’t seen the intersection herself, is not sure she wants to, or is able to, yet.

Last week, she created a Facebook page – Science Ridge Road/Route 40 concerns – to let the community know what’s going on, and to ask the people add their voices to her calls for change, and to help hold officials to their promises.

All she wants is for no other family to go through what hers has, the pain and the anger, she said.

“I have asked that these entities all work diligently in making this intersection a safe intersection so that no one will receive a call like our family did.”