Galesburg is still working to reduce traffic delays and improve public safety. Crews will soon start demolishing buildings to make way for a new overpass on Seminary Street, similar to the one on West Main. And, a consultant has been hired to design an underpass on East Main Street to be built next year.
Wayne Carl, City Engineer, says every day, hundreds of trains travel through Galesburg on five different tracks, causing intersections to be blocked for long periods of time. The bridge over the railroad tracks on West Main has already helped, and the new overpass and underpass will improve traffic flow even more.
Construction of the East Main underpass is scheduled for next year. And the city engineer says it will also help Galesburg create a quiet zone downtown, but that project will be more complicated.
Carl says 14 buildings will be torn down this summer where the Seminary Street overpass will be constructed. They include houses and commercial properties, but several are not occupied.
The total cost of the three projects is about 33 million dollars, and the majority of the money is from Illinois Jobs Now.