Roads projects top Logan County Board updates in November

 

[December 09, 2019] 

At the November Logan County Board Regular session, County Highway Engineer Bret Aukamp gave several updates on road and bridge work being done around the county.

Work Zone speed limits on Fifth Street

In the work zone on Fifth Street, Aukamp said the posted speed limit is 35 MPH due to construction traffic and the road being rough in spots. The best way to avoid accidents is to slow people down and so far, there have not been any accidents.

Update on Primm Road Bridge Project

The Primm Road bridge project has asphalt now and Aukamp said they are waiting for a guardrail and bridge rail to be installed. It is a matter of getting the right contractors in. Once this work has been done and a few other items completed, then the bridge will re-open.

See Deer Creek bridge project completed; Primm Road now open to all traffic  Posted December 7, 2019

Upcoming work on guardrails around the county

Around the county, there are blue lines by guardrails. Aukamp said they are marked for guardrail safety improvements. He said the county received money last year for safety improvements. Approximately $1 million worth of work will be done. Surveying and design work are being done now. Some work will be done next spring.

Whitney Hill Project

Board member Bob Sanders asked about what is happening with the Whitney Hill fines for trucks who were using the road when they were not supposed to.

Aukamp said the last couple of weeks he had been trying to do drive throughs and meet with Laenna Township, but the weather was a problem. He planned to meet with the people working on the project because there are still several outstanding fines for Lake Fork Township.

Since the developers assured Aukamp the fines would be paid and they still have not paid them, Aukamp said he will remind them and then decide if the board needs to get involved again.

After Aukamp’s update, Sanders asked what the board’s recourse is.

The attorney told Aukamp to work with the language of the road use agreement. There had been a question of how it would affect the wind farm getting building permits, but the attorney said that would “muddy the waters” and the problem would be better addressed through the road use agreement.

Questions about road conditions during snowy weather

Board member David Hepler said when it snowed last week, he noticed a stark contrast between the road conditions on Interstate 55 in Logan County and McLean County after last week’s snow. Hepler said conditions were horrendous as soon as he got into Logan County. He asked whether Aukamp had contacted the Illinois Department of Transportation about it.

IDOT has several different maintenance depots and Aukamp said the one in Lincoln handles most of Logan County and one on the south side of Bloomington handles most of the McLean County section of Interstate 55. He said some of the difference probably has to do with the two different operations depots.

The snowstorm that came in was more focused towards the south. Aukamp said his guess that the depot in Bloomington was focusing all their energy on the south end of McLean County and had it clear, whereas the one in Lincoln had to handle everything in Logan County. That would have included all parts of Interstate 55 through the entire corridor between the Sangamon County and McLean County line.

Aukamp said he did not doubt there was a time there was a stark contrast between the two parts of Interstate 55, but by the time he drove on them, they were not too bad.

After years of driving in both counties, Sanders said Logan County is usually worse.

Because the road conditions were horrendous, and that we deserve better in Logan County for the safety of the people, Hepler asked Aukamp if there was any influence he could have on IDOT and whether he could contact them.

Aukamp said he would bring it up with operations and reach out to IDOT but may need a letter from the county board making IDOT aware of the road conditions, and then see what could be done.

Airport/Farm update

The board approved a motion brought forward from the Airport and Farm Committee for $6,000 for the storm water pollution prevention plan. Hanson Engineers will be the service provider and engineers.

At the Nov. Board Workshop, Airport and Farm Committee Chairman Dave Blankenship said the plan is a required measure to make sure there is not toxic water runoff from the Logan County Airport and the drainage system is in compliance. There have been some ditch improvements made to drainage around the airport with some tweaking still to be done. New tiles were added to the east to improve drainage from the area.

Executive and Personnel Committee update

The board unanimously approved Executive and Personnel Committee Chairman Scott Schaffenacker’s motion to send letters of support to our State Senator and Representative extending Mount Pulaski’s TIF District #1 from 23 to 35 years.

Board members present were Dave Blankenship, Emily Davenport, Janet Estill, Bob Farmer, Cameron Halpin, David Hepler, Chuck Ruben, Bob Sanders, Scott Schaffenacker, Annette Welch and Jim Wessbecher. Steve Jenness was absent.

The next Regular Logan County Board meeting will be Tuesday, December 17 at 6 p.m. in the Logan County Courthouse.

[Angela Reiners]