Hundreds of people make a left turn into the Collinsville Jaycee Sports Complex on any given summer or fall weekend, most are probably peeking into their rearview mirrors and clutching their steering wheels, hoping no one coming down the road at 45 mph collides with them. The white knuckled drivers will be given a reprieve in 2015.
Collinsville City Hall / Photo by Roger Starkey
The Collinsville City Council approved several ordinances on Monday, June 23 which will allow the Illinois Department of Transportation to widen a portion of Collinsville Road to five lanes, with the fifth lane being a bi-directional turn lane. The turn lane will be used for westbound drivers entering the sports complex. Drivers from both directions will use the new lane to enter business parking lots along the stretch of road between Collinsville Middle School and Interstate 255.
The project also includes widening the shoulders to accommodate bicycles and tearing out and reinstalling the existing sidewalk on the north side of Collinsville Road. IDOT expects the $1.495 million project, funded by IDOT, to be completed no later than June 2015, Kirk Brown, IDOT program development engineer said. A mild winter could mean an earlier completion date.
Despite what many may perceive to be a dangerous street, there have been only seven accidents this year on Collinsville Road between Ramon’s Eldorado Restaurant and Sand Prairie Lane, Assistant Police Chief Tom Coppotelli said. Only three of the accidents involved injuries, none of them serious.
The City Council also approved a contract with Hanks Excavation for construction of the new municipal parking lot across from City Hall. Hanks submitted a winning bid of $230,818.40, which is 14 percent lower than the original estimated cost, Director of Streets Rod Cheatham said.
The new parking lot will have decorative light fixtures consistent with others in Uptown Collinsville and four park benches. To date, the City of Collinsville has committed at least $563,068.40 to the project.
The building that sat on the site was purchased for $250,000. A $34,000 contract with Oates and Associates for preliminary and final design, topographic survey, civil design, electrical design, specifications, bidding documents and construction staking was approved on May 12. Envirotech Inc. removed asbestos from the building for $48,250.
The City’s street department performed demolition of the building. Attempts Monday to obtain cost estimates for the work were unsuccessful.
The Council approved the construction contract on a 3-1 vote. Councilwoman Karen Woolard, who opposes the project to convert the old post office building into a parking lot, was the dissenting vote. Woolard has said she will vote against each item for the project to remain consistent with her original vote against the purchase of the property.
In a unanimous vote, Friday’s South was awarded $31,500 in Tax Increment Finance charges to install fire sprinklers in the building, which includes an expansion into the adjacent building. The bar and restaurant was awarded $23,837.20 in TIF funds on May 27 to assist with the expansion plans.
