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East Voorhees Streets in early July . Cole said the project is expected to be completed this year .
The project had been on the department ’ s radar for at least 10 years . Cole said the city started looking at improvements to the intersection back in 2009 or 2010 , possibly even earlier than that .
When Gov . JB Pritzker announced the Fast-Track Public Infrastructure Grants in May 2020 , Cole said all hands were on deck in the department as they tried to make the deadline to submit a proposal for the grant , which they did .
“ Basically , I didn ’ t sleep for a few days ,” Cole said .
The city received funding from the grant , which funded the $ 1.25 million project 100 percent , Cole said .
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Carle At The Riverfront
Road construction around the new Carle at the Riverfront building is nearly complete , according to Cole .
Improvements have been made to the Madison and Gilbert intersection as well as the Logan and Chandler intersection . Next up on the list includes improvements to Lafayette Street ( between Gilbert Street and Robinson Street ), Robinson Street ( between Lafayette Street and North Street ) and North Street ( between Gilbert Street and Logan Avenue ).
Cole said he hopes to start those projects in 2023 , pending any possible delays .
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Denmark Road Project
The long-awaited Denmark Road Project is expected to be completed by the end of September , according to Cole . Construction started on the $ 6.5 million sewer project in November of 2020 , and the $ 4.5 million road project followed .
Cole said progress has slowly but surely been made on this project .
“ I know there were some very frustrated people because they ’ d drive by and there were days that nobody was there ,” he said . “ There have been significant delays on that project …” The project , originally expected to be completed in 2021 , has had its share of delays with funding issues during the initial bid in 2019 , material delivery issues and weather-related delays .
Obtaining material to complete the work has been a root cause of unexpected delays , Cole said .
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“ We had a big trench dug out and couldn ’ t get the rock ,” Cole said , adding that nearly two weeks went by before rock became available .
Without the materials needed to complete the work , Cole said workers won ’ t be out simply because there is no work for them to do .
Eventually , though , materials have been gathered and delivered , and now the curve along Old Ottawa Road has been widened , the sewage system has been redone and a sidewalk has been built from Chateau Estates to Winter Avenue with a new pedestrian bridge across Lake Vermilion . A bike lane has also been added on the bridge .
Construction is near complete , but Cole said , “ We ’ ll still be back in the fall doing seeding and things like that that we can ’ t do until it cools off a little bit .”
Section Street
“ It was probably one of the worst roads , if not the
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