St. Charles still waiting for IDOT to come through, mayor says
You could say my crystal ball was off a little bit on this one.
When going through old files, I noticed the first item in my first Daily Herald column in August of 2003 mentioned the problem of getting in and out of the new St. Charles Post Office west of Randall Road without a stoplight at Oak Street and Route 64. It even delayed the opening of that post office for a short time.
The item assured readers that IDOT would have a light in place by the end of that year.
Here we are five years later, and not only is there no light at that busy spot, but that sector of the city's west side has added an Aldi, a Harley-Davidson dealer and now Costco.
It means even more drivers are trying to negotiate a left turn onto Route 64 off Oak Street near the post office site.
"A stoplight is still in the plans but it has not moved forward because IDOT has a problem with funding and it also wants a significant section of that area redesigned, with a new intersection at Campton Hills Road and Route 64," St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte said.
"We feel St. Charles has done its part in getting developer funds for the project and we have met IDOT in the middle," DeWitte added. "It's time for them to keep their end of the bargain."
In the meantime, the area continues to be one of many tricky left turns in the Tri-Cities region.
Extra holiday cheer: They call them "Enchanted Views" and they spruced up the windows on some Geneva downtown businesses for last weekend's Christmas Walk.
Artist Cathy Coy and her sister Rebecca Cleghorn paint temporary holiday art on store windows for business owners looking to spread extra cheer.
Kathleen Newhouse of Park Place Interiors informed me of this nice touch for the holidays, and her storefront was a good example.
I'll tell you more about another favorite holiday window display in my Sunday column.
More hallway time: The expansion project at Batavia High School will put the students in the same boat as their neighbors in Geneva and St. Charles when their schools underwent expansion.
It means it will be tough to get from one end of the building to the other during passing periods - if your class schedule calls for such a trek.
Make it your office: Having recently rented an office in Warrenville from the Regus Group and being quite pleased with its service, I can give an early plug to this company that provides business offices and support staff to those in need of an "away" office.
The plug comes, of course, because Regus is going to be a tenant early next year in The Plaza portion of St. Charles' First Street project. With The Plaza joined at the hip with the new parking deck, this becomes an appealing spot for folks to do business in St. Charles when their main office might actually be in Chicago or somewhere else in the massive sprawl and traffic congestion of the suburbs.
dheun@sbcglobal.net