2018/05/01 - Mayor's Column: Road 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.
Old Collinsville/Milburn School Roundabout: Starting on May 1st, construction will begin on this new roundabout. The intersection will not be closed to traffic until after school ends for the summer. Like other projects in this area, we hope to have it reopened before school returns next year. This project will reconstruct the intersection as a roundabout to accommodate the increased traffic. There will be detours through Savanah Hills and Augusta Greens while the intersection is closed.
Green Mount Road/Central Park Intersection: The exact starting date has not yet been established, but during the summer months, the intersection of Green Mount Road and Central Park will undergo construction to add additional turn lanes. At no time will the entire intersection be closed, but there will be intermittent lane restrictions throughout the project. The new lanes will help ease traffic in this important intersection near Exit 16. It is expected that this project should be complete in the fall of 2018.
Asphalt Overlay Program: This past year, we commissioned a study to determine the condition of every street in O’Fallon. This study helps us decide which streets to address first, and the best method of maintaining the quality of the street. This is a long-term maintenance program, so a portion of O’Fallon’s streets will be addressed each year. Some of these streets may receive patching, some may receive an overlay, and in some cases, they may need to be rebuilt. This year, we will address the streets in the following areas:
- Westbrook and Parkridge Estates Subdivisions
- Ridge Prairie Heights Subdivision
- Manors at Fairwood Hills Subdivision
- Cedar Meadows Subdivision
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.
There will also be several storm sewer, water, and sanitary sewer projects coming this year, but I will cover those in next week’s column. Also, 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!