The public is invited to join the City of Batavia in the Groundbreaking Ceremony for Batavia Project Streetscape on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 10 a.m. on River Street in front of the River Street Parking Deck.
Streetscape construction is scheduled to begin on April 30, 2012 on River Street and May 25, 2012 on Houston Street. Both streets are scheduled to be completed by mid-October 2012.
Ceremony guests are invited to visit River Street businesses following the event for Groundbreaking specials on Saturday, April 28.
Batavia Project Streetscape is the outcome of many months of work by Mayor Jeff Schielke, Batavia City Council, the Streetscape Committee and City Staff to enhance and create a pedestrian-friendly downtown.
The City worked with design consultants, Altamanu, Inc. of Oak Park, in planning improvements to the streets, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping and related infrastructure in the downtown. The City has contracted services with Leopardo Construction to oversee the construction, Christopher Burke Ltd as the project design engineer and WBK as the Phase III Construction Engineers.
In an effort to expedite the project, both River and Houston Streets will be closed to vehicular traffic for extended periods of time during construction. Businesses will be open throughout construction and pedestrian walkways will be accessible.
The City Council has approved a budget of $3.5 million for River Street and $2 million for Houston Street. These are the first two streets to be reconstructed. Wilson Street is anticipated to be completed in 2013.
The project is being funded with Tax Increment Financing (TIF) money generated from the two active downtown TIF districts. The City of Batavia was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation for a portion of the improvements on Wilson Street. Budgets have not yet been established for the remaining streets in the downtown.
Complete information on the project including timeline, concepts and renderings can be found on the city’s website, www.bataviaprojectstreetscape.com. Additional questions can be directed to the City’s Streetscape hotline 630-454-2777 or emailed to streetscape@cityofbatavia.net.
Tom
11:40 am on Tuesday, May 1, 2012
why was this project not sent out to bid? They basically handed the contacts to these people. Is it not better to have multiple competition to assure we as tax payers get the best price. Don't they have to use public bid over a certain dollar amount? Something does not seem right here.