March 17, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
West Main Streetscape Project, City Staff Honored
DECATUR - The City’s West Main Streetscape project was awarded the Illinois Department of Transportation Project of the Year award for district seven during last night’s meeting of the Decatur City Council.
Byron Bowman, the City’s resident engineer on the project and project contractor Otto Baum Inc. also received awards for resident engineer and contractor of the year for their work on the project.
The city completely overhauled the segment of West Main Street between Fairview Avenue and Church street both for safety reasons and as a means to “connect” the downtown area with the city’s west end. For years there had been complaints that the old roadway represented a safety concern for the area in and around Millikin University, a problem which the new West Main has addressed both through the addition of traffic calming features and improved lighting. A part of the purpose and the allure of the new brick design — a design that was preferred by many near west neighborhood residents and business owners — is that it creates a way to slow traffic and encourages motorists to actually take in their surroundings.
Simply put, slower traffic creates a safer pedestrian environment. The varied roadway texture and color “announce” that you are in a new neighborhood, acting as a speed deterrent and providing a sort of charm that says “you’re now visiting someplace different and special.” This is at least a part of the reason that so many folks on the city’s west end want to keep their brick streets and why they remain popular in other metropolitan neighborhoods elsewhere.
The project also added canopies under the railroad tracks just west of Oakland Avenue which are designed to protect pedestrians walking under the bridge from falling rocks and other debris.
Rick Marley, the City’s director of Engineering and Infrastructure, also announced last night that phases 1 and 2 project have come in about $106,000 less than the contractor’s bid prices. Final landscaping and pavement work are expected to be completed on the project in the spring.
For more information contact Billy Tyus at 424-2753.