Safety at the intersection of Annie Glidden Road and Stadium Drive is and will continue to be a top priority in DeKalb.

Due to high traffic and frequency of accidents on Annie Glidden Road, it has been an area the city council has focused on for some time.

“The safety of the students certainly is a primary concern of the city,” DeKalb mayor Greg Sparrow said. “That stretch of Annie Glidden is of primary concern to me and the council.”

The city put up a speed tracker near the intersection that is intended to slow commuters if they are driving faster than the limit.

A radar detector warns drivers of how fast they are going and if they are speeding, said Lt. Jim Kayes of the DeKalb Police Department.

Many times these detectors are put up in areas of greater risk in hopes of deterring speed-limit violators, Kayes said.

Over the past year, other improvements have been made on and around the intersection.

“A permanent signal replacing the temporary signal was put up and we widened some of the street,” DeKalb City Engineer Joel Maurer said.

According to an Aug. 28, 2001 Northern Star article, a lack of funding forced the city council to approve the construction of the temporary signal.

It was reported that “a temporary signal [would] be placed at the intersection until a funding source for a $140,000 permanent light [could] be found.”

Over a year and a half after the temporary signal was put in, a federal grant that covered between 80 and 90 percent of the costs was given to the city to construct the permanent signal, Maurer said. NIU agreed to match the remaining funds the city spent.

“The total costs came to about $150,000. It took us only 10 weeks, and that was in the summer of 2004,” he said.

Constructing a permanent signal and widening streets, however, is not all that will need to be done at the intersection.

Eventually the city will put in a left-turn lane on Stadium Drive, Maurer said.

There are tentative plans to begin and complete the construction on the intersection during the summer, he said.

Future improvements may also be made at the intersection of Annie Glidden Road and Taylor Street, though no official plan or date for those improvements has been set, Maurer said.

The improvements on Annie Glidden Road are being made mostly due to safety concerns, he said.

“Through cooperation with the city and NIU, we have been able to improve safety throughout the intersection,” Maurer said.