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News
Road work ahead in 'old' Oswego : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisRoad work ahead in 'old' Oswego
| Village to seek bids for Town Center renovation this winter; work expected next spring
| by John Etheredge
| 12/23/2004
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One of Oswego's oldest neighborhoods will become a construction zone beginning next spring.
Construction on the first phase of the proposed Town Center Renovation project should begin in March or April, Jerry Weaver, the village's director of public works, said during a public open house on the project plans Thursday.
Weaver said construction could take up to three years to complete.
"If we find that the contractors can get the job done in two years, that's certainly what we're going to have them do," he added.
The project will involve the reconstruction of approximately ten blocks of crumbling asphalt streets in an area bounded by Chicago Road (U.S. Route 34) Garfield Street, Franklin Street, and Washington Street. A two block section of Van Buren Street between Madison and Washington streets will also be improved.
Engineers for the village are scheduled to open contractor bids for the estimated $6.4 million project this winter, which should permit the spring start for construction.
Weaver said the work will proceed in phases, with contractors completing street sections one at time and then proceeding onto other sections.
The order in which the streets are improved will be up to the contractors, according to Weaver. However, he said the school year schedules for nearby East View Elementary and Traughber Junior High schools will also be a consideration as work progresses.
The new streets will have an asphalt surface along with curbs, gutters, adjoining sidewalks and underground storm sewers. Contractors will also install new water mains and street lights throughout the area.
Weaver said the new street lights will replace the existing street lights now hung on utility poles.
If the project budget permits, Weaver said he would like to have decorative street lights similar to those in the village's Main Street business district installed in the neighborhood.
Weaver said village officials deemed the project necessary to improve the streets and stormwater drainage, and to boost water pressure to the estimated 270 homes in the area.
"The water main is undersized. It's an old four inch (in diameter) sandcast main," he said. "We'll have a bigger main put in that will give the residents better water pressure and better flows in the event of a fire."
In a recent survey conducted by the village, many residents in the neighborhood expressed concern about the potential for the loss of trees and parking spaces in front of their homes. Currently, some residents park vehicles in the right-of-way in front of their homes.
Weaver said the village will have contractors "make every effort" to preserve trees in the neighborhood and any trees that are cut down will be replaced. In addition, he said, contractors may plant additional trees in medians where there are currently no trees.
"We're going to do whatever we can to save the existing trees," he said. "If we have to move a utility line or meander a sidewalk around a tree, we will work towards saving that tree."
However, Weaver estimated that a "couple dozen" trees may still have to be removed, based upon what he and engineers saw while walking through the neighborhood as part of the plan preparation process.
The new streets, he said, will have a width of 31 feet from the back of the new curbs, the same width as streets in new local subdivisions. The 31 feet width, Weaver said, should allow for on-street parking on both sides of the street.
Contractors will install four foot wide concrete sidewalks throughout the area. All existing, deteriorated sidewalks will also be replaced, Weaver said.
"Having sidewalks on both sides of the streets should really make it safer for kids to get to school," he added.
As work progresses in the neighborhood, Weaver said residents will be able to reach their parking areas and driveways at the beginning and end of each work day.
"We're going to make it perfectly clear to the contractors at the pre-con (pre-construction) meeting that our residents will have access to their driveways at the end of each work day," he added.
Weaver and other village officials have previously acknowledged the project will be an inconvenience for residents during the construction periods. However, when completed, they believe the improvements will serve to enhance the neighborhood.
Just 13 residents attended open house
As part of the project planning effort, Weaver said the village sought the residents' input through a survey that was mailed to homeowners in the neighborhood.
An estimated 94 of the 270 surveys mailed by the village were returned, Weaver said.
The two hour open house held Thursday at the village public works facility offered residents yet an opportunity to view the plans and to talk with village officials and project engineers. However, just 13 residents attended the session.
Weaver said Friday he expected about 100 people would attend the open house, based on the number of telephone calls the village had received in recent weeks about the project.
Referring to the small turnout at the open house, Weaver said, "I hope that is a sign that the majority of the people view this project as a positive thing that needs to be done and they understand what's going to happen." |
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