Access to East Illinois Street from Main Street to Close in September

NEWBERG, Ore. — The city of Newberg will close access to East Illinois Street from North Main Street beginning Sept. 15, converting the three-way intersection into a two-way in an effort to reduce confusion, congestion, and safety risks.

The intersection connects North Main Street, East Illinois Street, and West Illinois Street/Highway 240. An 80-foot stretch separates three stop signs, leaving little room for vehicles to safely move toward or away from the highway.

“The intersection should have never been built like this,” City Manager Will Worthey said. “There is just not enough space for this many roadways to connect, especially coming off a highway.”

Concerns about the intersection date back to 2023, interim public information officer Emily Salsbury said. The city held community listening sessions and commissioned an engineering study, both of which supported the need for changes.

Proposals included a traffic light or roundabout, but either option would require coordination with the Oregon Department of Transportation, a process that could take years, Worthey said. Widening the intersection would require purchasing and demolishing at least two nearby homes, costing an estimated $1.1 million.

Worthey said he canceled the design study, citing high costs and the unlikelihood of timely completion. Any project involving Highway 240 would need ODOT approval, and the design study alone carried a $200,000 price tag.

“When we’re running on a lean budget, we need to make sure every dollar is used in the right way,” Worthey said. “There are other projects — like River Street — that need money more than a study for options we cannot implement.”

The city reached out to nearby residents about the proposed closure. Most supported the plan, Worthey said, including PPM Technologies, a manufacturing plant that has sought to limit its commercial traffic on East Illinois Street.

Kate Menninger, who lives at the intersection with her family, said she supports the closure. As a pedestrian, she often sees drivers ignore the northern stop sign at Main and East Illinois, instead focusing on the stop sign 80 feet south at Main and Highway 240.

“I’d say it affects my quality of life,” Menninger said. “Cars that are supposed to stop at that stop sign don’t. When we’re trying to cross there, we have to make a lot of eye contact with oncoming cars.”

Menninger said she was not notified of the closure before seeing an information sign on Main Street. She commutes to Hillsboro and often uses East Illinois, but said alternative routes make the change manageable.

“There was a brief 24 hours where I was upset or confused because we hadn’t been told about the closure,” she said. “But after that, I came to terms with it and realized it’ll probably be safer and good for our neighborhood. It’s nice to see they’re doing something.”

She added that she is curious to see how the closure affects traffic at other key intersections, particularly Main and Hancock/Highway 99W. Traffic often backs up there during peak hours, and additional diverted commercial traffic could worsen delays.

“I hope they’re going to keep an eye on the data and watch how the other parts of town are impacted by this closure,” Menninger said.

The city said in a news release that the closure will be on a trial basis. The bollards could be removed if the city pursues a different traffic control option.

Drivers approaching from the south should use East North Street and North Washington Street, about 400 feet before the Main Street intersection, to access East Illinois. Drivers from the north should use East Pinehurst Drive. Pedestrians and cyclists will still be able to enter East Illinois from Main Street via sidewalks or the space between bollards.

For more information, visit the City of Newberg website.