A week after a deadly crash on Highway 67 in Milan, residents and safety experts are demanding changes along the rural stretch where three people have died since July.
MILAN, Ill. — One week after a fatal crash on Highway 67 in Milan killed a Reynolds woman, concerns are mounting over safety on the rural roadway, where three people have died in head-on collisions over the past two months.
Experts with the Bi-State Regional Commission warn that narrow road shoulders, reduced visibility, and high speeds quickly turn dangerous.
Deputy Director Gena McCullough of the Commission said rural roads like Highway 67 present unique safety challenges. She noted that an average of 20 to 25 people die each year in car accidents across the Quad Cities metro.
“…So that’s 25 people who aren’t coming home to their families,” she said.
Emma Van Acker, who works at Quad Cities Gymnastics Academy along the highway, said the building sits where U.S. 67 narrows from a four-lane highway to two lanes.
“It can get kind of hilly and scary, and it’s pretty much a blind highway after us,” Van Acker said. “Cars are turning out; they can slow down right in front of you. You’ve got to be really aware.”
Speeding remains a problem on the stretch despite the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit. McCullough said the state is considering several measures to improve safety.
“On a rural two-lane road, they may add rumble strips in the center line so that when someone crosses over, they’ll hear that noise and correct,” she said.
Van Acker said she hopes to see more signage warning drivers of reduced visibility and hills in the area.
Although the Bi-State Regional Commission’s safety plan studied traffic incidents from 2013 to 2023, it did not include this stretch of Highway 67. McCullough said the Commission wants to survey the area and make it safer in the future.
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