2019/09/16 - Mayor's Column: Construction Updates
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
The busiest time for construction in the Midwest is summer and fall. The City of O’Fallon attempts to perform most road construction during this time 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.
Many times, scheduling projects depends heavily on State and Federal funding. If the project is dependent on grant funding, the timing of the project is out of our hands.
Here is an update on a couple of this year’s biggest construction projects.
This year’s biggest construction project is in full gear. Simmons Road, from the roundabout at Fairwood Hills to the roundabout at Obernuefemann (Sports Park) is being completely rebuilt. There are a number of houses located off of Simmons, so we had to perform the construction in two phases. The northern section may be complete by the end of September. Once the northern portion is complete, we will then move to the southern part. The southern section is shorter and should not take as long as the northern part to complete.
One of this year’s other major projects is in the Presidential Streets. Phase 4 of the Presidential Streets improvement project will install new sanitary sewers, storm sewer, curbing, and asphalt pavement along Washington and Adams Street from Lincoln to Penn Street as well as Vine and Penn Street from State to Adams Street. Work is moving forward quickly. The cost of Phase 4 is approximately $1.2 million. Bringing the total project cost to $4 million.
If you are driving on State Street, near Rohr Fields, you will notice a lot of activity next to the road. We are replacing the water and sewer lines in this area. The water lines are complete, and work is now being done to replace the sewer lines.
Meanwhile, our annual asphalt and concrete replacement program continues. The paving in Southview Gardens was recently completed. The Homestead area is now being repaved. Concrete is being replaced in the Estate Drive/Howard Place area this week.
You also may have noticed that many public parking lots were repaved over the past few weeks. The parking areas in downtown, Rock Springs Park, Family Sports Park, Public Safety Facility and other places around town received a new topcoat of asphalt. This periodic treatment helps maintain these parking areas for the long-term. It is much cheaper to repair them than it is to completely rebuild them.
There are many other smaller projects that the City of O’Fallon performs on a daily basis. Our staff is well trained and dedicated to keeping the City’s infrastructure in good shape.
Please be safe in construction zones. We appreciate our staff (and all contractors’ staff) for working in construction zones. And, we truly want them to be able to work safely and return to their friends and families at the end of each day. While in a construction zone, please slow down and practice caution! We all thank you.
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!