2018/07/16 - Mayor's Column: Construction Updates
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
We are in the peak of construction season in O’Fallon. In last week’s Inside O’Fallon Newsletter, City Administrator Walter Denton shared information about the construction going on in and around City Hall. It has been a challenge keeping City Hall open for business and operating efficiently while in the midst of active construction. But, through the patience of our residents and staff, we have been successful. Construction around City Hall will be complete over the next few weeks and we will be able to move our City Council Meetings back to the City Hall Council Chambers starting on August 6, 2018.
If you have driven past the O’Fallon Station recently you will see that the historic scale house has been relocated and the foundation of the pavilion is being formed. After a slight delay due to an overhead electrical utility line and increased lead-time for steel, this project is advancing well. We hope that O’Fallon Station will be complete this fall. Our Parks and Recreation Department is already planning future events and a farmers market at this location in downtown.
Construction of the new roundabout at the intersection of Milburn School Road and Old Collinsville Road continues. Most of the concrete work has been completed and they should begin pouring pavement soon. Most of the construction will be complete, and the intersection reopened, by the start of school.
Last week, construction began on improvements of the intersection at Green Mount Road and Central Park. This project will include construction of additional lanes turning on and off Green Mount Road. Anybody that has traveled this area during rush hour knows how important it is to improve this intersection. We hope that someday soon the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will be able to improve the exits from Interstate 64 by adding additional lanes at the off-ramps at Exit 16.
Also, on Green Mount Road, starting next week, the area between Highway 50 and State Street will be closed so that we can make improvements and patch potholes. This project closes only a small stretch of Green Mount Road, a section that some still call Schwaegel Road. This shouldn’t be as inconvenient as last year’s construction on the main part of Green Mount Road. This project should only take three to four weeks.
Those are the major road projects we have planned this summer. We also have a number of water and sewer projects planned, but for the sake of time, and print space, we will share information about those in a future column.
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!