COUNCIL APPROVES BRUSH COLLEGE ROAD CORRIDOR AGREEMENTS

The Decatur City Council on Monday approved agreements that members hope will strengthen future funding requests for Brush College Road corridor improvements, part of a region where significant travel and access barriers hamper current travel and future growth possibilities.

Members approved an agreement with Crawford, Murphy and Tilly to perform land acquisition services for the project and authorized a second agreement with the State of Illinois to use Illinois Jobs Now grant funds to help pay for the acquisition costs. The Brush College Road project is made up of multiple phases with the acquisition work approved on Monday associated with planned construction of a Fairies Parkway and Norfolk Southern Railroad overpass and interchange.

In April 2016, the City applied for $20 million in funding through the federal TIGER VII Grant program to design and build the Brush College Road/Faries Parkway Grade Separation and Improvement Project. Upon learning that its application was not selected, the City asked for feedback to learn how to improve funding applications going forward. The most significant short-coming listed was that the City was not far enough along on the project and representatives were advised that one of the ways to move forward was through acquisition of needed right away.

Contact Billy Tyus at 217-424-2727 for more information.