The recent shift of traffic to the eastbound lanes of Illinois Route 159 through Collinsville signals that the 159 project in Collinsville is 40 percent complete and at least six months ahead of schedule.

Photo by Roger Starkey

Crews will begin putting in a storm sewer, sidewalks, curbs, gutters and new pavement on the west side of 159 (Vandalia Street). That work is anticipated to be completed by fall, Barry Gibbs, Illinois Department of Transportation lead engineer on the project, said. Traffic will then be moved to the west lanes and the same work completed on the east side of the road.

Although Baxmeyer Construction Inc., of Waterloo, if completing the work faster than anticipated on the $11.8 million third and final phase of the Collinsville159 project, IDOT is not yet ready to move the scheduled completion date from fall 2016. Gibbs said the current schedule has some cushion in case of bad weather.

“I’d much rather have it ahead of schedule than right on schedule, where we have no buffer,” Gibbs said.

In addition to the recent lane change, Park Street, between Vandalia Street and Keebler Avenue, was closed last week. The stretch of road will likely remain closed for about two months, Gibbs said, while the pavement is removed, the road is widened and new pavement applied.

Park Street will serve as the new connector between Vandalia Street and Keebler Avenue when a cul-de-sac is placed at the current intersection of Wickliffe and Keebler avenues. The dead end will cut off the popular shortcut of accessing Keebler Avenue from Vandalia Street by way of Wickliffe Avenue.

A new traffic signal will be placed at the intersection of Vandalia and Park and Spring streets.

The street construction on 159 consists of widening the existing roadway from three lanes to four from Johnson Street to Wickliffe Avenue, with a center stripe divider. Wickliffe Avenue to Cumberland Street will be five lanes, with a bi-directional turn lane.

Changes are also coming to the sidewalks that run the length of the project. They will be brought up to Americans with Disability Act standards. The stretch from Johnson to Wickliffe will be made consistent with the downtown streetscape project, including the stamped brick sidewalks and decorative streetlights.

The State of Illinois is paying for the stamped brick on the sidewalks, but Collinsville will pay the difference between standards streetlights and the decorative streetlamps, Mayor John Miller said. The cost to the city for the decorative streetlamps is $150,000, which is the cost of the entire project to the city, Director of Streets Rod Cheatam said.

IDOT estimates that traffic on the expanded road will increase from the current 23,000 per day to 35,000, Cheatam said.