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The future of the U.S. Business Route 24 median in Washington is in the spotlight once again

Here's a section of the troublesome median along U.S. Business Route 24 in Washington.
Steve Stein
/
WCBU
Here's a section of the troublesome median along U.S. Business Route 24 in Washington.

One of the unanswered questions during the multi-year discussion of when deteriorating U.S. Business Route 24 in Washington will be reconstructed is what to do with the center median.

"The median is business unfriendly," City Council member Brian Butler said at Monday's council meeting.

"Previous councils I've been on also have thought that way," Butler said. "When this road is finally reconstructed, what's there will be there for decades. Can we engineer out the median?"

City Engineer Dennis Carr said he'd pass along the suggestion of removing the median to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which oversees the busy east-west road that runs through a commercial corridor and leads motorists to and from the downtown square.

Council member Mike Brownfield agreed with Butler, saying he's heard often from residents who say how difficult it is to navigate the median and drive to a business.

Before the multi-year reconstruction project is done, most likely at the end of the decade, IDOT plans to do a mill and overlay project on the road this year.

Carr's discussion about the mill and overlay project and some movement on IDOT's plan to hire a consultant for the design of the reconstruction project elicited Butler's comments.

Completion dates for the Freedom Parkway and Nofsinger Road projects are on the horizon

Here are highlights of City Engineer Dennis Carr's report Monday to the council:

  • The Freedom Parkway extension project should be completed by mid-September.
  • The Nofsinger Road realignment project could be completed by the end of the year.
  • The Catherine Road reconstruction project has gotten underway with the brick pavers, sidewalks and approaches removed from Main to High streets.
  • Here are highlights from Police Chief Mike McCoy and Deputy Police Chief Jeff Stevens' report Monday to the council:
  • After a resident told police that he believed speeding eastbound trucks in the 300 block of Walnut Street were causing vibration damage to his property, a traffic counter was placed at the resident's address for about a week. The counter documented 508 large vehicles, with very few going more than 40 miles per hour (the speed limit there is 35 MPH). The 85th percentile truck speed was 34 MPH and the 50th percentile truck speed was 31 MPH. Police recommended continuing ad hoc speed enforcement in the area.
  • Eureka police officer Caleb Eckhoff will join the Washington Police Department on Aug. 12.

Here's a highlight from finance director Joanie Baxter's report Monday to the council:

  • Five Points Washington won't need to pay the city the $75,000 it owes for the 2023-24 fiscal year. That's because the city's .25% home rule sales tax generated $607,167 in calendar year 2023 and the city's annual payment for a $5 million construction bond the city provided for Five Points was $358,563 for the 2023-24 fiscal year. The council voted in January to relieve Five Points of its obligation to pay the remaining $600,000 of the $1.25 million it owes the city as long as the city's annual payment for the bond can be made with only home rule sales tax revenue.

Eagle Avenue sidewalk project 'a complete success'

In action Monday, the council unanimously approved:

  • A payment of $109,013 to C&G Concrete Construction of East Peoria for constructing a sidewalk on the east side of Eagle Avenue from the Central Intermediate School parking lot to U.S. Business Route 24. The project came in $839 under budget. City Engineer Dennis Carr called the project "a complete success" thanks to residents along the corridor who worked with the resident engineer and contractor. The sidewalk will provide a safe place for Central School District students to walk to and from the Eagle-Business Route 24 intersection.
  • An ordinance that creates a Police Supervisor Selection Committee made up of the city administrator and two members of the council who are appointed by the mayor. The city administrator will be the chair of the committee, which is charged with selecting Washington Police Department sergeants. The committee also can discipline and fire sergeants if recommended by the police chief. Candidates from inside and outside the department can apply for a sergeant's position.
  • A payment of $20,013 to Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon to cover the cost for police department hires Camille Imhoff, Dyllan Foster and Amanda Foster to attend state-required basic police training classes this summer.
Steve Stein is an award-winning news and sports writer and editor. Most recently, he covered Tazewell County communities for the Peoria Journal Star for 18 years.