The third phase of the Collinsville Downtown Streetscape project was approved Monday by the City Council.

The unanimous vote of the council authorized Mayor John Miller to execute an interagency agreement between the city and the Illinois Department of Transportation on the third of four phases for the project, which began in 1999. Street Director Rod Cheatham said the total estimated construction cost of the current phase is $1.085 million. The city will pay $348,032.

Photo by Roger Starkey

The third stage of the project will continue renovations in uptown Collinsville to match enhancements completed on Main and Clinton streets in 2003 and 2008. Church Street from Clinton Street to Illinois Route 159 and Center Street from Main Street to Church Street will receive road resurfacing, new concrete handicap accessible sidewalks, brick-imprinted, asphalt crosswalks, shepherds hook pedestrian street lamps, decorative street signage, street trees and cast iron tree grates.

The project will be available for bid beginning in September, Cheatham said. The majority of the work will begin next spring.

Collinsville received about $1.9 million in funding to complete the first two phases. Phase one, completed in 2003, renovated a three-block section of Main Street from Seminary Street to Morrison Avenue. Phase two renovations began at Seminary Street and continued west to Combs Street. Clinton Street, from Church Street to Clay Street, was also part of phase two, which completed in 2008.

In 2011, the city and Oates Associates, a civil and structural engineering and architectural design firm, were the recipients of a Merit Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois for the design of phase two.

The fourth stage of the Collinsville Downtown Streetscape project will renovate East Main Street from Illinois Route 159 to Aurora Street and Aurora Street from Main Street to Clay Street. The city’s website said the goal of the multi-phase project “is to improve the economic viability of Main Street by filling vacant storefronts and creating a more inviting environment for business owners, residents and visitors.”

The city was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program in January for phase four, which is in the planning phase. Uptown Coordinator Leah Joyce said an application will soon be submitted to ITEP to request funds for a fifth stage of the streetscape project, which will include a section of Clay Street.

“The goal is to continue phases until the entire uptown area is complete,” Joyce said.