URBANA — The city of Urbana is asking area residents to share their input on construction plans for a portion of Florida Avenue — from Wright Street to Hillcrest Street in Urbana.
Officials say the project is based on a corridor study of Florida Avenue finished in 2022.
The road has reached its maximum lifespan, according to Jeremy Coers, chief roadway engineer with the Lochmueller Group, a consulting company working with the city on the construction plans.
“There was a section of the roadway that used to have on-street parking,” Coers said. “Because the pavement was so deteriorated, they had to change the pavement markings so that cars could drive in the parking lane and stop driving on the parts of the roadway that were deteriorated.”
Some portions of the road will be fully replaced, while other portions will be resurfaced. The project also aims to improve intersections and add turnouts for bus stops.
The city of Urbana was previously awarded a federal grant of nearly $10 million for the project, according to Carmen Franks, an assistant city engineer. The grant application is pending final review and approval by the Trump administration.
“They changed their priorities from the previous administration,” Franks said. “But ultimately, we believe we will get this funding… We’re very close to finalizing that agreement.”
The city will continue to review input from area residents in the coming weeks and put together a public report, which will be submitted for review and approval by IDOT in late May, Coers said.
“We’ll take the results of this meeting, we will document everything, put it together in a public report… for final review for approval” from IDOT, Coers said.
The full project could take about two years to complete. Area residents can provide their input to city officials by sending an email to projects@urbanail.gov by May 25.
Comments can also be dropped off or mailed to the City of Urbana Public Works office at: 706 Glover Avenue, Urbana, IL 61802.
Concerns about pedestrian and biker safety
The city of Urbana held a public information meeting on April 22 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Urbana. The meeting had an informal, open house format.
Some residents who turned out for the meeting said they’d like to see more consideration for pedestrians and bikers.
Cynthia Hoyles, who described herself as a mostly retired transportation planner and consultant, said ever since her family moved to Urbana in 2001, they’ve done a lot of walking and biking in the area.
But Hoyles said she doesn’t bike on Florida Avenue.
“Well, Lincoln to Race, there is no bike infrastructure there, and there’s a very narrow sidewalk only on the north side. So, I almost never bike down that road,” she said.
She said Urbana has high rates of walking and biking in her community, so she thinks the safety of pedestrians and bikers should be more prioritized in the project.
“If you go through that area, you will see hundreds of bikes, including a lot of children’s bikes,” Hoyles said.
“There are a lot of students that go to school at Urbana Middle school and Urbana High School, so we need to be particularly careful in how we design the infrastructure to make sure that they can cross the street safely.”
Another longtime area resident, Kelly Wegeng, also expressed concerns about pedestrian safety.
Wengeng has concerns about the possible removal of a stop light at the intersection of Orchard and Florida.
“Without a light, what are they going to do at peak traffic hours?” Wegeng said. “And that’s exactly when they’re riding their bikes to work, and people walking their dogs right after work, between 5 and 7 [p.m.] mostly, and that’s exactly when there will be a lot of traffic.”
She said she’s glad that the engineers at the meeting proposed a full investigation of the area and the traffic from all directions at Orchard and Florida but is “not really excited about the idea that they’re going to remove really important infrastructure that’s being utilized by vulnerable road users.”