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First-year work wrapping up on Peoria’s conversion of major downtown streets

Orange construction barrels block the left-hand lane of Adams Street near the intersection with Fulton Street in downtown Peoria.
Joe Deacon
/
WCBU
Orange construction barrels block the left-hand lane of Adams Street near the intersection with Fulton Street in downtown Peoria.

Peoria’s multi-year project to convert two major downtown streets back to two-way traffic is close to finishing its first construction season.

Public Works Department spokesman Nick McMillion said the first-year work included upgrading 24 intersection corners along Adams Street.

“Right now, we have 22 of those 24 corners completed,” McMillion said. “The remaining corners that we're going to be wrapping up in the coming weeks, if not next week, will be the northeast corner of Harrison Street and then the northwest corner on Main Street.”

McMillion said the reconstruction converted the corners with bump-outs to shorten pedestrian crossing distances as a measure of safety, adding the focus next year shifts to doing the same work at the 20 corners on Jefferson Street in the project corridor.

“Then the following year, that’s when we’ll be doing the pavement reconstruction, the mill and overlay of both Adams Street and Jefferson Avenue,” he said. “So really, the actual conversion when traffic goes from one-way to two-way won't happen until probably the summer or fall of 2026.”

McMillion said crews will finish pouring concrete soon on the two remaining Adams Street corners, then removing the traffic control barrels to get the project “buttoned up for winter.”

“If we have a nice winter, we anticipate probably right around the first week of March, if not the end of February is when work will pick back up,” he said.

The $19 million project will change the configuration of both roads to have one lane of traffic in each direction, with a bi-directional center turn lane and bicycle lanes. Overhead traffic signals also will be installed for improved visibility.

“Over the next coming months, we'll be working to install the new traffic mast arms that will replace a lot of those pedestal mounted traffic signals, making more safe thoroughfares for drivers,” he said.

McMillion said most of the feedback the city has received about the conversion has been positive.

“This project has been something that these business owners, these residents, have been asking for for a very long time. They're very excited that what we're doing has unlimited economic potential to potentially bring in more customers,” he said.

“For residents in the area, they're very excited about the better pedestrian accommodations that we're putting in place, the bike lanes, the bump outs, having better walkability for downtown Peoria. We're trying to get that vibrancy back in downtown Peoria, and this is the first of many major steps for the city of Peoria to kind of bring that vibrancy back to downtown.”

Other road projects

McMillion said the stretch of Nebraska Avenue between Park Road and Interstate 74 that’s been closed for reconstruction since summer is expected to reopen to traffic by the end of the year.

The nearly finished upgrades are the first stage of a $4.5 million reconstruction of Nebraska.

“Next year, we'll start on stage two and three, where we'll be focusing on Nebraska Avenue from Park to Sterling, basically reconstructing those lanes of traffic,” he said.

In addition to replacing the pavement, the project also is improving storm sewer drainage and upgrading pedestrian accommodations on the roadway.

Meanwhile, a $9 million overhaul at the intersection of Pioneer Parkway and University Street is proceeding on schedule.

“Again, we're kind of in the phase of the end of construction season, so we're going to be shifting traffic on Monday on Pioneer Parkway to the newly-reconstructed lanes, and kind of button in that up for the winter months as well,” McMillion said.

“Next year, we'll start back up on that project as well, to where we'll start focusing on the reconstruction of University Street at Pioneer Parkway.”

The project involves new pavement and traffic signals, improved pedestrian and bicycle facilities and some upgraded lighting.

Pioneer Parkway will remain reduced to one lane in both directions throughout the winter.

McMillion said another project on tap for 2025 includes addressing some drainage issues on Moss Avenue, between Western and Sterling.

He said the first phase of a Wisconsin Avenue reconstruction finished ahead of schedule earlier this year, and the second phase — between McClure and Forest Hill — isn’t slated to start until spring of 2026.

Joe Deacon is a reporter at WCBU and WGLT. Contact Joe at jdeacon@ilstu.edu.