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Provide a long-term
investment in Illinois.
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Create construction
jobs.
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Provide 21st-century infrastructure
improvements for economic growth.
In March, when the council was building the city's budget for the
fiscal year, which began on May 1, the stimulus money was tagged to
be used for improvements to Broadway Street from Hamilton to
Illinois Route 121.
There were also two other streets in the city that were entered
in the budget. Improvements to College Street from Eighth to 11th
and North Kickapoo Street from Pekin to Keokuk were to be funded
from local tax revenues and the motor fuel tax.
Mayor Keith Snyder wants a "swap" of funding sources, designating
the stimulus funding to North Kickapoo and College and bringing the
infrastructure sales tax funds and motor fuel tax revenue to the
Broadway Street project.
Snyder explained that the reason he wants to do this is that
there are grants that can be applied for through the Safe Routes to
School program and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that
would allow funding to add a bicycle path the length of Broadway
Street.
Snyder had asked Hanson Engineering to draft a few alternate
plans that would include the bike path. He passed out copies, which
also included budget information.
Per one alternate plan, adding the bike path could reduce the
width of Broadway by 8 feet, eliminating parking on one side of the
street. In another alternate plan it reduced the overall width by 16
feet and eliminated all curbside parking.
Snyder said that he is not asking for the council to approve any
of these plans at this time.
He said that if they were to make significant structural changes
to the street, a public hearing would have to be held to get input
from the citizens of Lincoln, and of course, if they applied for the
grants and didn't get them, then they would have to drop the bike
path altogether.
What he wants the council to vote on next Monday night is simply
swapping the funding sources for the projects so that the city can
move ahead on researching the feasibility of the alternate plans.
Snyder's suggestions sparked a great deal of discussion by the
council, beginning with Joni Tibbs inquiring as to whether the plan
was for one path or one path on each side of the street.
City engineer Mark Mathon and Snyder explained that using an
8-foot-wide section, they could build one path and stripe it for
directional flow.
Tibbs also wanted to know if there would be a guardrail dividing
vehicles from bikes. Mathon explained that the street would be
brought in and new curbs erected; then the bike path would be above
the curb line, thus completely isolating it from vehicle traffic.
It was also questioned as to how many kids would actually be
using the path for the purpose of going to school.
Mathon and Snyder didn't have an exact figure; however, Dean
Henrichsmeyer and Nathan Turner both said they felt that if there
was a designated path, many people would use it, including
themselves.
Henrichsmeyer added that bringing the path from 121 to downtown
would to be a good thing for downtown businesses and the community
as a whole.
Les Plotner, city treasurer, wondered if the path was being
proposed for use by children going to Washington-Monroe School and
said that while there might be a few from Broadway, the majority of
the students came from other areas.
The mayor said that the grant would include connecting the path
to the school, as it is a school safety grant.
Melody Anderson wanted to know if there was going to be any
property encroachment and whether or not there would be some new
sidewalks built at the same time.
Mathon said that on the Route 121 end there are no sidewalks on
the south side of Broadway Street in the last few blocks. He said
that adding sidewalks could be feasible.
He also said that there would be no encroachment on property
owners because Broadway is one of the few streets in town that has
an 80-foot right of way. He said that the majority of Lincoln's
streets offer 60 feet or less.
Anderson also wanted to know if the swap would enable the city to
do more road improvements or if it would be about the same.
[to top of second column] |
Mathon answered that it would be the same number of blocks improved
as in the original plan, but if the grants were received, the
Broadway project would be a larger project than is currently
proposed.
Henrichsmeyer observed that switching the projects would be a
wash on the budget, and Mathon agreed. The same number of dollars
will be spent regardless of what funds are used. The additional
funding spent for the bike path would be contingent upon winning the
grant awards.
There was also concern expressed about the residents along
Broadway who would have to give up curbside parking and would also
experience cyclists using their driveways to gain access to the bike
path.
Snyder said that these were all questions that would have to be
addressed, but that for the moment, all he was asking the council to
do was consider swapping the funding for the road projects.
Tibbs stressed her discomfort with voting on the issue before all
these questions were answered, and Snyder once again reiterated that
they were not voting on the street projects, only the funding
sources.
Snyder said that as stipulated by the stimulus fund guidelines,
the plans for the Broadway Street improvements have already been
submitted to the state. If the change were to be made, Mathon would
have to submit a revised set of plans. So, a decision needs to be
made quickly. He asked for a vote to be placed on the Monday night
agenda.
Verbal petition for an alleyway
Henrichsmeyer said that there has been a verbal petition that a
platted, but undeveloped alleyway be opened up at Fifth and
Jefferson. He asked the city engineer to explain the petition.
According to Mathon, the city owns a right of way platted for an
alley that has never been developed. He said that a property owner
wants to do some improvements there and needs the access. However,
the problem arises that other owners on that block have erected
fences and storage buildings on what is legally city property.
To develop the alley, those items will have to be torn down or
moved at homeowner expense.
Buzz Busby said that while no one should have built on city
property in the first place, getting those owners to simply agree to
tear down their structures is not going to be an easy task now. He
also wondered how much the project was going to cost the city, and
Mathon responded that he estimated it at less than $5,000.
Bill Bates, city attorney, reminded the council that not too long
ago there was an issue where there was an encroachment on a public
way and the city decided to allow the encroachment. He said it is
not going to be the simplest thing in the world to get people to
agree with this.
In the end the council decided that the best course of action
would be to contact the original petitioner and advise that person
to put together a signed petition that includes all the property
owners on the block, requesting the alleyway development. Once that
is complete, the council will consider the request.
Beck's wants to expand station for truck traffic
Mathon passed out copies of an e-mail and preliminary plans for
an expansion of the Beck's Shell station, located on the west end of
town, across from the Cracker Barrel.
According to a Beck's representative, the company wants to add
diesel service for semis on the back or north side of their
property.
The plans include gaining access to the diesel station by turning
onto Heitmann Drive and proceeding north to a newly constructed
public road running east and west behind the station.
Anderson asked if Beck's was asking for the city to pay for the
construction of the new public road. Mathon said no, the company is
not asking anything from the city at this point. They simply wanted
the city to be aware that they had a plan for expansion and offer
the city the opportunity to comment on the proposal.
Bates said that before Beck's could go forward with any plan,
they would need to take it to the planning commission first before
formally coming to the council.
[By NILA SMITH] |
