ST. JOSEPH, Ill. (WCIA) — An intersection known for frequent accidents has recently been improved. The Illinois Department of Transportation is removing trees, weeds, and other barriers following complaints from the residents of St. Joseph.
While driving on Route 150 through the center of St. Joseph, you will encounter Sportsman’s Club Road: an intersection village residents claim has been the site of numerous past collisions.
“If you are on that rural crossroad heading north across [Route] 150, and there is traffic approaching from the west over Glover Street Bridge, it is hard to see the oncoming cars, which are traveling at nearly 45 miles per hour,” said St. Joseph resident Miki Wesley.
She’s not the only one. Five different people that all live within a mile of the intersection said it was tough to see around the corner, and some even take different routes to avoid it altogether.
Wesley also talked about if she knew about any crashes in the area.
“Yes, mainly people going east, turning on to Sportsman’s Club Road, going north,” Wesley said.
IDOT recently trimmed back the tree limbs and mowed down overgrown plants.
However, even though a lot of the overgrown plants have been cut, St. Joseph Mayor Jim Page said that a wire, which was supposed to be buried when it was initially installed, isn’t allowing all of the plants to be trimmed down to help visibility. Until that wire gets buried, IDOT can’t cut all the plants down on certain parts of Route 150.
IDOT also said the private company that installed the wire is responsible for it getting buried. Page said in a Facebook post once that gets done, these weeds can be cut down.
Now, they aren’t sure when the cable will be buried since it’s up to the company who installed it.
WCIA reached out to Page as well as the Public Works director for the village to ask which company installed the cable and when this work could be completed but has not heard back from them yet.
