County allocates $2.5M in grants
South and southwest suburbs in line for improvementS
South and southwest suburban communities are in line for about $2.5 million in transportation improvement grants, according to Cook County.
The Alsip Park District will receive $56,000 for the design of a 1.75-mile multiuse path, part of the Cal-Sag Multi Use Greenway. The 26-mile Cal-Sag path connects five other regional paths and stretches from Lemont to the Illinois-Indiana state line.
Calumet City will get $844,000 to be used as the matching requirement for a federal grant that will be part of a $3.4 million investment in streets in that city, according to the county.
The work includes construction of Riverside Drive east of Burnham Avenue, as well as an extension and improvements to Lincoln Avenue north of Riverside.
A grant of $225,000 will go to Ford Heights for a preliminary engineering study for the Lincoln Highway Corridor, according to the county.
The study will look at a two-mile section of Lincoln Highway/U.S. 30, from Cottage Grove Avenue on the west to Torrence Avenue on the east.
Work will include assessing existing road conditions and travel patterns, noting the road carries a heavy amount of truck traffic and the study area has seen degraded pavement, sidewalks and street lighting.
A grant of $400,000 is allocated to Harvey for the design and rebuilding of a nearly one-mile section of 154th Street from Wood Street to Broadway Avenue that will improve connections to the University of Chicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial Hospital, according to the county. Harvey has previously obtained grant money to repair and replace sidewalks near the hospital.
In Oak Forest, a grant of $1
million will go toward rebuilding a section of 151st Street over the Boca Rio Drive drainage ditch, along with funding a culvert replacement and channel enhancement work, according to the county.
The work is intended to reduce flooding and improve the flow of the ditch. The project is a joint effort involving the city, Cook County and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, according to Oak Forest.
Construction is scheduled to begin in June and wrap up by November, according to the city, with detours in place on 151st and Boca Rio during portions of construction.