It’s race week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as fans gear up for the Indy 500, but Sterling Police Chief Pat Bartel is waving a caution flag for drivers using Sterling’s newest stretch of pavement, Second Street.

“The speed trailer will be going up there this week and we will continue to monitor to let people know that we are going to be there and we are going to be watching, so we don’t have a drag strip,” Chief Pat Bartel said in his report to the Sterling City Council on Monday.

Second Street in Sterling opened for traffic earlier this month after over a year of construction. The completed project features new pavement and striping as well as wider sidewalks and new curbing.

Work on the $6.23 million project started in April 2025 and involved resurfacing Second Street from state Route 40 to Broadway Avenue. Gensini Excavating of Princeton was awarded the bid.

The speed limit on the 10-block stretch of Second Street is 25 miles per hour and Bartel said a few drivers have been a little too enthusiastic driving on the new pavement.

“We started watching cars last Friday, when Second Street opened up and doing some enforcement. We had squads on each end of Second Street and we pulled over seven or eight people Friday afternoon and Friday evening,” he said.