State has better roads in Quincy’s future

QUINCY — City of Quincy Engineering Director Steve Bange gave aldermen hope that some roads through Quincy might be a bit less bumpy in the not-too-distant future.

Those roads that are in the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), anyway.

Bange gave the Quincy City Council a look at IDOT’s long-term project plans on Monday night with the big ticket item being the $150 million replacement of Memorial Bridge.

Within the next five years, Broadway is projected to get $15.2 million in upgrades, The IL 96 corridor (South 36th Street) will get $28 million, the US 24 corridor (to Koch’s Lane) will get $11 million and Bayview Bridge will get $11 million.

Bange said only 20 percent of the city’s streets are considered in good or even satisfactory while 80 percent ranges from fair to very poor or serious. Reconstructing 40 percent of the City’s 205 miles of streets over the next 20 years would cost nearly a half a billion dollars.

Aldermen did approve the bid on one project that is a combination of state and city dollars on Monday night as the next step was taken to fulfill the promise of the Sixth Street Promenade.

The Council accepted a $4.77 million bid from Rees Construction to building Sixth Street from the sewers and water mains to streets, sidewalks, parking and lighting. The improvements will run from Maine to Vermont on Sixth.

The City received a $2.4 million grant for this work in 2022 and will match it with:

• $1.25-million in TIF funds already allocated for the project, which was supposed to begin the construction had the city received the first grant.
• $800,000 in water/sewer revenue identified for water/sewer work in the area.

Aldermen voted 11-3 to approve the project with Mike Farha (R-4th Ward), Tony Sassen (R-4th Ward) and Mike Rein (R-5th Ward) opposing.