Residents learn about IDOT's Ill. 2 project
By Vinde Wells - Editor
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A steady stream of area residents stopped by the Nash Recreation Center, Oregon, last week to get a look at the drawings which detail this year’s reconstruction of Ill. 2 north of Oregon.
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) held an open house Feb. 25 to field questions and offer the public a look at the plans.
The work has already begun with tree removal from Fair Street in Oregon to Stronghold Castle, and the installation of electric poles and wires along Ill. 2 in front of the Mongan Subdivision.
Once completed, the road will be wider and have left turn lanes for side roads and driveways.
Bob Carsella, who lives on Etnyre Terrace on the west end of the subdivision, intently examined the drawings which stretched along four walls of Nash’s multipurpose room.
He voiced mixed feelings about the project, but said he would be glad to see the road’s numerous potholes gone.
“Ill. 2 needs to be fixed, but a lot of people are going to be inconvenienced,” he said. “I live near the back of the subdivision so it doesn’t really affect me. But the people up near the road lost land and they lost trees.”
John Rickard, who drives to work at Stronghold Castle every day agreed that the road needs work.
“Route 2 needs to be rebuilt. My tie rods and shock absorbers don’t like it,” he said.
Rickard, who is the chief administrator for the Presbytery of Blackhawk, which owns Stronghold, said although the construction may temporarily reduce the number of visitors coming to the facility, it should be plus in the long run.
“When it gets done it will be a lot safer for us,” Rickard said. “For our entrance this is a good thing — there’s no turn lane now. The turn lanes will make it safer.”
IDOT Project Engineer Rebecca Marruffo said the project’s first phase from Fair Street to Stronghold will take two construction seasons.
Phase II will go from Stronghold to Mill Creek just south of Byron, and that will be completed by the end of 2012, she said.
The construction work will be extensive, Marruffo said.
“The roadbed will be removed and replaced,” she said “All of the rock underneath and all of the culverts will be replaced. It’s going to be a major reconstruction of the road.”
The entire project is expected to cost $25 million, Marruffo said, with the first phase estimated at $7.4 million.
She said Phase I tree removal is expected to be complete by mid-March.
The road will remain open to traffic during phase one, she said. In fact this year two lanes will be open during road work. Next year, however, one lane will be closed from time to time, she said.
On Phase II north of Stronghold, it will be a different story. Complete closure of the road to the north will begin later this year.
“The closure is expected to begin this fall for a couple of months, and then the road will be re-opened for the winter,” Marruffo said. “It will be closed again in the spring and be closed March to November in 2011 and 2012.”
IDOT Construction Engineer Doug Happ said most of the people who attended asked questions about access to the road during construction and the timeline.
“We’ve had the usual property owner questions,” he said.
Not everyone at the open house was pleased about the project.
Sue Herrod, who lives along Ill. 2 in the Mongan Subdivision, was there to express her disapproval.
To those who asked, she offered handouts with photos and information about the poles installed in front of her home to replace the underground electric service.
