Revamped Oak Street ready for Friday traffic

After six months of construction and one-way traffic, North Aurora residents can look forward to the rebuilt Oak Street opening Friday, Public Works Superintendent Mike Glock said.

Motorists can also look forward to several other road rebuilding projects in the village to reach completion either this week or next, Glock said.

"It looks good. I'm glad we're reaching the end of the project, and I'm sure the residents are also glad," Glock said, "The work was long overdue."

Oak Street is one of the village's main east-west corridors, but for the summer it was open only to westbound traffic. The $3 million project began in April and completely rebuilt the road, added a continuous turn lane as well as reduced a hill. It was scheduled to be complete at the end of this month, Glock said.

Glock said he did not know how much the project would cost the village because he has not received final bills from the contractor. State and federal funds should account for 80 percent of the cost, Glock said.

The changes should make the trip from Route 31 to Randall Road quicker and safer, Glock said.

He said the traffic striping is scheduled to be complete Friday. He said some other items like landscaping will be completed shortly, but they will not delay opening the street.

In addition to Oak Street, projects on Harmony Drive, Kingswood Drive and State Street - all part of a program to replace aging streets and water mains in the village - will also finish this week. The project was scheduled to be complete this month.

Work on Clearwater Drive and Long Avenue should finish next week, Glock said. The work for the five streets was budgeted for $1.4 million.