The light at the intersection of Barber Greene Road and Sycamore Road has been cited as the cause of several recent accidents, leading to a petition calling for immediate action to take care of the problem.

The intersection serves as the entrance to the DeKalb County Nursing Home on the west side of the road. Vehicles seeking entrance to the parking lots of the home are not given a turning lane or left-turn signal from the stop light. Since January 1992, 13 different accidents at the intersection have occurred.

John Ross, administrator of the DeKalb County Nursing Home, said the intersection is dangerous.

The petition, found at the front desk of the home, was started when Terry Leibforth, LPN at the home and Kishwaukee College nursing student, was involved in a car accident at the intersection and suffered minor injuries, Ross said.

Ross said the purpose of the petition is to get some immediate action done to make the intersection less dangerous. “We’ve heard that it is slated to be redone to a turning lane sometime in the spring,” he said. “We want someone to come out and take a look at it. We hope the city will try to do something before they do the whole intersection; some temporary measures need to be taken.”

One temporary measure that could be taken would be to open the old entrance to the parking lot.

“The opening of the old entrance, 300 feet south of the light which is used as an exit to the south, should be considered,” he said.

DeKalb City Engineer Ralph Tompkins said while the Barber Greene intersection has had many accidents, it is not the only problem area located on the Route 23 corridor (Sycamore Road). The Wal-Mart driveway and Jewel driveway as well as others have had a lot of left-turn accidents.

Tompkins said improvements of the Barber Greene intersection are part of a five-year state plan to widen streets and improve street signals.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will be widening, resurfacing and installing turn signals in the section of Sycamore Road from Oakland Drive to the north, and Dresser Road to the south. Work tentatively is scheduled to begin in late winter or early spring when the construction season begins, Tompkins said.

While the improvements to try and reduce left-turn accidents are on the way, Tompkins said he is not aware of any plans for a temporary improvement to the Barber Greene Road and Sycamore Road intersection.

“I don’t know what they would do,” he said.