Summer's Here!

Great news for enjoying the weather, but it also means road work and traffic interruptions. There's a good chance you've already encountered the work going occurring on Polo Road. Workers are improving the stormwater drainage in the area and adding a turn lane to Polo road in addition to resurfacing the area. Most of the work will be done this year and the road completely opened later this summer, but the final layer of asphalt is actually going to be laid next summer to allow the base to settle and to allow for other potential construction work in the area.

Other street projects include:

Broadway – 4^th to 5^th
Avenue F – 5^th to 7^th
E. 23^rd St – Locust – 3^rd
8^th Avenue – 4^th - 5^th
8^th Avenue – 6^th – 10^th
Johnson Ave – 9^th – 10^th
Woodlawn Rd – Route 2 – City Limits
6^th Avenue – 3^rd to 4^th

While the work can tie up traffic and cause temporary parking concerns, the end result more than makes up for it! Please give the workers a break and have a little patience while they're at work. Thanks for the cooperation!

Rock Falls Rockets Baseball

I just had to say congrats to the Rock Falls Rockets baseball team. Hopefully I don't jinx our neighbors, but after seeing their pitching stat line for the season, you can only we awed. Those are amazing stats. Best of luck to RF in their championship run. It's nice to see so many of our area teams succeeding in so many different prep sports!

Clean & Green

The City is putting on its first Clean & Green week. We're pretty excited about the event. For the first time in years, the City is offering Sterling residents the chance to dispose of large, non-hazardous junk items. This project is funded largely through the City's Solid Waste fund which is why we're limited to servicing Sterling residents.

Additionally, we're putting together a volunteer effort to do some cleanup projects around the City. We have several volunteers lined up to cleanup the downtown and parks in the City. We've also received some generous donations to help provide lunches and drinks to volunteers. We also received some assistance in sprucing up the entry signs on IL 40 and Freeport Road.

It's the first year, so we're managing expectations and hoping to learn a few things for future events. Hopefully everyone can be patient and help us make this a smooth running event that we can continue. Thanks for everyone's cooperation, particularly the Public Works employees who are going above and beyond with this project!

Bike to Work Week

In the face of constantly rising fuel prices, what better way to save some dollars and do something good for yourself than to ride your bicycle to work? You can save hundreds, if not a thousand dollars in fuel and maintenance costs depending on how often and how far you normally drive and what you drive. You'll also burn hundreds of calories each day, which means you can lose those extra pounds or you can afford to have that extra scoop of ice cream! All that is without even considering the other benefits such as fewer cars on the road and less pollution.

It's not easy for everyone, but for most, it's probably easier than first imagined. You don't have to be Lance Armstrong to ride 5 miles to work. If you can walk a mile, you can easily handle 5 miles. In fact, you can probably get that far in 20-30 minutes without breaking a sweat!

But what about clothes? Depending on what your job requires, you can wear your work wear or you can simply roll (not fold) your clothes into a backpack or even a trunk pack that attaches to your bike. You can always pack a few handi-wipes just in case you do break a sweat.

But my bike, will my bike be a good commuter? Any bicycle can be used. That old Schwinn road bike, that new Trek comfort bike, or that mountain bike collecting dust in the garage. Make sure the tires are inflated, and consider having a bike mechanic give it a once over to make sure it's shifting well and the brakes are in good shape.

Take a Saturday and give it a try. If nothing else, think about riding once a week, or just getting out and riding after work! You'll feel a lot better at the end of the day!

Check out the League of Bicyclists Brochure designed for new cyclists thinking about biking to work to read many more tips!

Welcome!

Hello readers!

I hope to update this with some frequency, though I know upfront that updates will be sporadic, depending on time availability and the timeliness of topics.

It's my intention to use this space to help citizens get a better feel for how your City works for you and more insight on what we are doing to make the City of Sterling a better place to live. Having a blog makes getting the message out a little easier and a little more personal for everyone.