2017/05/15 - Mayor's Column: May is for Graduation and Construction
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from O’Fallon Mayor Herb Roach
May is an exciting time in O’Fallon. Schools are dismissing for the summer and many students are celebrating their accomplishments. Congratulations to all those who have successfully completed their journeys through elementary, high school or college and will be graduating soon. Your hard work was worth it!
May is also important in O’Fallon because it usually signifies the beginning of what we consider “construction season”. The City of O’Fallon attempts to perform most road construction during the summer months for a few reasons:
- More hours of daylight and dryer weather allow for more work to be performed and less delays due to weather.
- Traffic impact is considerably lower due to less vehicles traveling to and from schools.
- Some materials used in road construction are unavailable or more difficult and expensive to obtain in colder weather.
Here are some of the larger construction projects planned to begin soon. We will know more details about each project as their start dates get closer. When more information becomes available, I will be sure to share it with everyone.
Milburn School Road: Starting on May 30th, Milburn School Road, from Savannah Hills to the roundabout at Merriam Parkway/Milburn Estates, will be closed. This project will reconstruct this stretch of road to accommodate the increased traffic. Weather permitting, this project will be completed by September 30, 2017.
Highway 50: The exact starting date has not yet been established, but during the summer months, West Highway 50, from Old Collinsville Road to Hartman Lane will be resurfaced to repair normal wear and tear experienced on this busy stretch of road. There will be lane restrictions as this projected is underway.
Porter Road: Late summer or early fall, the stretch of Porter Road from the Porter/Simmons roundabout to approximately Carriageway Lane will be closed to reconstruct the roadway to accommodate the increased traffic in this area.
Regency Park: Beginning near the end of June, the stretch of roadway from near the entrance to the Shell Station, south past Jack Schmitt will be improved. Some of this area will be required to be reconstructed and some will only require pavement patching. This area will serve as an additional entrance to the HSHS-St. Elizabeth’s Medical Campus and will soon experience an increased amount of traffic. Not to mention that it is important that ambulances transporting patients to the hospital’s emergency drop-off area will need a suitable road.
Road construction can sometimes be frustrating and inconvenient, but like any improvement project, the long-term positive results will outweigh the temporary hardship. With any project, we plan and take steps to reduce any inconvenience that these projects may cause.
If you are interested in more information about these projects or curious on how they are progressing, I encourage you to call the O’Fallon Public Works Department at 618-624-4500 Ext. 3.
In the coming weeks, I will be writing about major projects that are planned for the next few years. I believe that it is important for our residents to know what future projects the City has planned.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!