Roundabout goes around again as Council tables action on 48th and State

QUINCY — The issue of the roundabout about 48th and State still can’t find the right exit.

After Adams County reached out to the City of Quincy with multiple options to transfer the property, the Quincy City Council on Monday tabled a resolution regarding a counteroffer to the County.

Alderman Eric Entrup (R-1st Ward) said he preferred full council attendance for a vote on the issue and aldermen Mike Farha (R-4th Ward) and Jake Reed (R-6th Ward) were absent.

Aldermen voted on April 1 not to contribute $2.6 million to build a roundabout at the intersection, citing there were higher infrastructure priorities on the city’s docket. The County Board interpreted the City Council’s decision as a failure to abide by a 1973 intergovernmental agreement signed by then-Mayor Don Nicholson calling for the transfer of the roads to the city. Adams County Board members then voted on April 11 in favor of a jurisdictional transfer of the land surrounding the intersection to the city.

City and County officials met last month to discuss options for the transfer of jurisdiction. The areas under consideration were:

• South 48^th from Broadway to 1,346 feet south of State
• State from 600 feet west of South 48^th to 175 feet east of South 48^th
• Seminary Road from 12^th to 18^th
• North 18^th from Seminary Road to Locust

The city recently resurfaced the sections of Seminary Road and North 18^th.

Four options were created during the Sept. 5 meeting to be presented to the City Council and the County Board. Those options were:

• Construct the roundabout with shared costs and a $650,000 transfer
• Modify the jurisdictional transfer and a partial payment
• Follow the original jurisdictional transfer created in 1973 
• Follow the original jurisdictional transfer with an optional $650,000 payment from the county to the city

Adams County Board Chairman Kent Snider, who will be retiring from the position Dec. 1, has said he wants to revive the roundabout, with the county now paying $3.25 million and the city paying $1.95 million. The costs originally were to be shared evenly, but the county has offered to provide $650,000 to compensate for the additional jurisdictional transfers of the sections of Seminary Road and North 18^th.

Four people spoke in support of the roundabout with no speakers in opposition. Retired engineers Pat Poepping and Steve Wavering, Russell Hinkamper, who lives on Eastate Drive not far from the intersection and John Wood Community College President Bryan Renfro.

“Our 1,800 students, 300 faculty and staff members have encountered significant traffic congestion and safety hazards while commuting along 48th to campus during peak times,” Renfro said.

Poepping also addressed the city’s Finance Committee last week and wrote a Letter to the Editor to Muddy River News in support of the project.

The issue was tabled for one week.

In other action, aldermen:

• Suspended the city’s aggregation program effective Jan. 1 and approved putting a referendum on the issue on the the April 1 ballot.
• Approved the low bid of $272,143 from Rees Construction for the 24th and Vermont Street utility replacement project, which calls for the installation of a new water main and connection point for the upcoming Broadway water main replacement project.
• Approved a change order adding $68,492 of work to the water treatment plant backwash line relocation project.
• Approved spending up to $17,200 to buy 36 trees from Leffers Landscaping and Nursery. The trees will be used in the city’s Fall 2024 Tree Planting Program. The trees will be installed with root barriers as aldermen expressed concerns about tree roots damaging sidewalks in their respective wards.