Reconstruction rolling along

Photo by Ann Gill
CURB AND GUTTER was installed along the west side of South Broadway on Monday as the contractor begins the final phases of the west side reconstruction. Sidewalk and driveway installations are scheduled for the end of the week with the roadway going in prior to the end of the month. The schedule calls for the work to shift to the east side of the street around the Labor Day holiday with the entire project being significantly complete in November.

By: 
Ann Gill
Editor

Coal City residents and those who travel South Broadway through the heart of the village are starting to notice some big changes.
Four months into the South Broadway reconstruction project, there is visible progress now that the contractor has curb and gutter installed on the west side of the roadway.
“There’s been a lot of underground work and that’s the slow part,” Coal City Mayor Terry Halliday explained.
The reconstruction project began in early April with the installation of a new natural gas main followed by underground infrastructure.
In the past few weeks, crews have been tearing out sidewalks and taking down street lights in preparation for road work on the west side of the street.
“Broadway is progressing along, you can kind of tell because the hole on the west side is getting less and less and less,” said Trustee Dave Spesia, chairman of the village’s Streets and Alleys Committee.
The contractor started the week with the construction of curb and gutter and the schedule for the rest of the week calls for sidewalk and driveway installation.
“I think once they begin pouring concrete it’s going to go fairly quickly,” Halliday said.
Once all of that is complete, the contractor will move on to the road surface that will include parallel parking, bike lane and the southbound lane.
“They are on schedule to be completed by the end of the month on the west side,” Spesia reported last week.
Side streets will remain accessible during this time except for short periods when the contractor is working in that area.
Village administrator Matt Fritz expects the shift to the east side of the roadway will take place around the Labor Day holiday.
At that time, vehicle traffic will be shifted to the west and crews will begin digging up the sidewalk, parkways and road surface on the east side.
As village officials reported during the planning phases of the project, this will result in traffic delays and a reduction in parking.
Village officials have indicated the project engineer from Christopher Burke Engineering LLC is slated to provide an update on the project when the board meets on Aug. 28.
The reconstruction is slated to be significantly complete in November, with landscaping elements to be added in spring 2020.