Reconstruction of Peoria’s Allen Road-Willow Knolls Drive intersection is expected to begin next month. City officials unveiled the preferred plan at a public meeting Wednesday night. It involves new signals, reconfiguration of medians, new sidewalks and a bike path. City engineer Bill Lewis says a roundabout was considered for the aging intersection, but a public survey overwhelmingly favored traffic signals.
“The biggest change will be (that) we’ll be adding a right turn lane for the southbound Allen Road to turn right onto Willow Knolls. But everything else that you see out there today will be very similar to what we’ll be building,” says Lewis.
Lewis says one lane on each road will remain open during construction, which is expected to last into November. The replacement is estimated to cost $2.2 million and will be shared equally between the city and Peoria County. The existing Allen Road-Willow Knolls Drive intersection was constructed in 1979.
