By: Diane Benjamin
http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3668
This meeting has only one agenda item – allocating local Motor Fuel Tax funds to fixing West College.
Where the money is coming from:
Besides not maintaining the roads Normal has and expecting grants to fix them, one troubling phrase is included:
If that refers to Constitution Trail, there is no where close to connect it the the rest of the trail. https://mcleangis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=dca5176b24184b33809218cbf771b161
The red line below is the Trail, the yellow line is a marked bike route:
Is Normal doing more “Quality of Life” at your expense? If this does refer to Constitution Trail, will connecting it to other parts be charged to you next?
I bet that question comes up. Why this item needed a special meeting is not clear either.
This meeting is at 5:05 instead of the usual 7:00
Hoping when TPTB refer to West College Ave. they mean everything west of White Oak Road, which has been a moonscape for close to a decade. Every water inlet in the curb have been undercut and surrounding pavement cracked and sunken at least once and the Town’s repairs don’t even last 3-4 years. Also, during winter the Town crew’s habit of just plowing snow once, then dumping 1″ of salt as they leave doesn’t help the road’s surface either.
The trail extension is the pork with hidden consequences. Questions need answered before moving this forward.
1) How will the trail cross White Oak and the RR Tracks, overpass or underpass? A surface grade crossing is ruled out because the RR does not allow new at grade crossings. At least that is the reason the town says the Uptown Underpass is required. The same logic should apply here. Also the Vision Zero project (zero transportation related fatalities) would exclude commingling pedestrian and vehicular traffic, so a surface level crossing at White Oak would go against the “plan”.
2.) Is it possible the trail extension grant monies could be used to fund the Underpass “trail extension” in Uptown?
This one may irritate a lot of property owners along the route beyond the acquisition cost to taxpayers. How much property will the town be required to purchase or take through eminent domain for a W College extension to connect to the existing trail? The planned route is critical to disclose to the public. Every property owner along it will loose parking space in their drive and yard space. This will impact property values.
The W College Road is horrible and should have been repaired years ago. The potholes are huge and deep and the town rarely makes it out to fill them. Drive out there and experience them yourself but dive at your own peril. The other businesses and drivers that rely on College ave are lucky Rivian is appreciated by the town enough to finally get the road fixed.
The trail extension(s) will go where the McLean County Wheelers tell Koos where they want it to go and he will comply. That is the way it has always been.
Pam and Koos have not learned to prioritize. There simply is not enough money to do all the wants they want to do. I assume us locals would have to cough up and extra $9M without the state and federal grant.
Different railroad
Different rules
Uptown = Union Pacific
West College = Norfolk Southern
THis IS a street that CT uses with regular abusive powers, and the potholes at the END by rt 150 NEED MAJOR repair, as I broke a control arm in the hole Tuesday. WHERE can I send the bill?
Jason Smith, IDOT won’t let Normal have the surface crossing in Uppity Town. IDOT was going to fully pay for an overpass but Koos and Co decided that was not good enough and to build an underpass on their own, even if it meant locals have to pay for it all or beg for grants. Who ever told you a private company was responsible for forcing municipalities to pay and build an overpass or underpass is feeding you B.S. Read the 1st paragraph of the MOU. Diane already reported on this.
https://blnnews.com/2019/12/05/normal-taxpayers-fleeced-again/
Reason for a Special Meeting? Perhaps grant application deadline…
Surely that cannot be the real reason! A dependable professional staff like the council keeps claiming we have would stay on top of those kinds of opportunities and their deadlines, saving the council the bother and embarrassment of having to have a special meeting.