Four-way stop project underway in Anna

A major street project got underway on Monday morning, July 23, in Anna, when the busy four-way stop intersection at Illinois Route 146 (Vienna Street) and Main Street in downtown Anna was closed to all traffic. 

The intersection was closed for concrete pavement replacement work. 

The Illinois Department of Transportation reported that the work is scheduled to be completed by 7 p.m. Monday, July 30, weather permitting.

While the work is being done, marked detours have been in place to direct motorists around the closed intersection. 

Access to businesses in the areas has remained open. 

Anna Police Chief Mike Hunter said that as of Tuesday morning, traffic had been moving smoothly in the area.

E.T. Simonds Construction Company of Carbondale is the project’s general contractor.

Gas Line Cut

At about 2 p.m. Monday, local officials issued an evacuation order for part of the city in response to an incident in which a municipal natural gas line was accidentally cut while maintenance work was being done along nearby East Vienna Street. 

The maintenance work was being done by the Illinois Department of Transportation separate from the project at the four-way stop. 

The order was quickly lifted after city crews shut off the natural gas.

When the cut in the line occurred, the Anna Police Department posted a notice on Facebook which alerted the public about the incident.

The message noted that the City of Anna was mandating an evacuation of the area within approximately 2,500 feet (or about half a mile) of the place where the line had been cut. The cut occurred in the 100 block of  East Vienna Street.

WIBH radio in Anna also shared information about the gas line cut.

Personnel from the Anna Police Department, the Anna Fire Department and the Union County Sheriff’s Office, along with other city personnel, went door-to-door to alert people at businesses and residences about the matter.