As someone who lives in SE Urbana, I'm really looking forward to this:
A major project to expand Windsor Road to four lanes between Philo Road and Illinois 130 should begin in spring 2009.
The city council Monday will consider an agreement with Champaign County to fund the project jointly. The council meets as a committee of the whole at 7 p.m. at the Urbana City Building, 400 S. Vine St.
Under the proposed agreement, which has been approved by the county board, Urbana and the county would each contribute $1.8 million. Federal funding would provide the remaining $3.4 million.
The road would be expanded from two lanes to four, with an additional turn lane at intersections. Also, a stoplight would be added at Windsor and Myra Ridge Drive, public works director William Gray said.
(Link was missing before - fixed now. Sorry!)
I truly hope the road doesn't fall apart before they begin working on it... which won't be for another year and a half.
The stretch of pavement from Route 130 to Philo Road is the same pavement that the state abandoned 12-14 years ago when Route 130 was straightened at the old Myra grain elevator, and went north to connect with Route 150.
Problem is, since it was abandoned, the City of Urbana has performed the absolute *minimum* level of maintenance on it in that time. Several times in the past few winters, the condition of the road would lead one to believe that they've simply forgotten to plow the snow off of it. In the spring, phone calls must be made for the city to fill the rapidly expanding number of potholes in it.
Just like the interchange at Curtis Road (which still isn't complete thanks to shortsighted state officials who are still hoping for a week of warm weather in winter), improvement won't come fast enough.
The cost to rehab this road when it should have been done (at the same time or shortly after the rebuilding of the *rest* of Windsor Road) would have been significantly cheaper than what it will cost in another year and a half in the future.
However, following the 'cross our fingers and hope we get a warm week in winter to lay asphalt' logic of IDOT, this plan makes complete sense.
Some of this results from development dunderheads who don't ensure road projects are at least on the docket before they start erecting (heh, heh) all sorts of buildings on the fringes. But what is going on with IDOT? There are projects outside this area that are facing the same fate as the Curtis Road interchange.