Pat Segel sat on her Elgin porch Monday and looked over at the concrete rubble that had once been an infamous traffic circle at North Gifford and Division streets as work got underway to return it to a four-way stop intersection.
“Thank you, city of Elgin,” Segel said.
Segel has been on a mission for years to convince city officials to remove the traffic slowing device, in part because it’s caused so many crashes since being installed in the late 1990s. It’s no longer needed, she said, because GPS technology means most drivers no longer mistake Gifford Street for Gifford Road.
When Segel couldn’t make headway with city administrators, she took her case to the Elgin City Council after a particularly violent crash.
In early June, an allegedly intoxicated driver plowed his vehicle into the circle, causing it to go airborne and catch fire, she said. The collision was so violent that chunks of concrete flew into neighbors’ yards, including hers, just a few yards from the intersection, she said.
“It sounded like an explosion. Everybody came out of their house,” she said.
The council agreed with Segel’s assessment of the circle’s drawbacks, and work to remove it began Monday. The location will be closed to traffic through Friday so it can be restored to a standard intersection with stop signs at each corner.
Electronic message boards have been placed on East Chicago and Park streets to alert motorists and detour signs set up around the area. Residents living in the closure area still have access to their homes, a city news release said.
Segel said she’s happy the city has finally taken action.
“The time was just right,” she said. “There are three things that cities don’t want to hear: Negligence, liability, lawsuit.”
The intersection will remain a four-way stop unless “additional traffic analysis is warranted,” Public Services Director Mike Pubentz said.
Also to be removed at the council’s direction is the traffic circle at College Green Drive and Muirfield Circle/Aronomink Circle. Work restoring it to a traditional four-way stop may be done this year but it could be pushed back to spring 2025 depending on weather and scheduling, Pubentz said.
Removing the two traffic circles doesn’t mean Elgin has given up on using the traffic calming devices in other parts of the city, he said.
Construction of a major roundabout at U.S. 20 and Reinking Road will start next spring, Pubentz said.
“We are also planning on the addition of a roundabout at the intersection of Highland Avenue and North Lyle Avenue to be constructed in 2026/2027 and have begun the planning phase for a roundabout at the intersection of Larkin Avenue and South Airlite Street,” he said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
