Batavia getting money for 'streetscaping'
When Batavia starts beautifying its downtown streets, it will have some help from the federal government.
It has been awarded a $1.5 million grant for part of its proposed Wilson Street-River Street “streetscape” project.
The city hired a design firm earlier this summer to come up with ways to improve the look of the downtown from Route 31 to Prairie Street and Houston Street to First Street.
The area to which the grant will be applied is from Shumway Avenue to Water Street, along Wilson, according to a news release.
In general, the designers recommended widening sidewalks in many areas and planting a lot of trees. It calls for making “gateways” at several of the intersections; closing off the parking lot of a shuttered restaurant at Water and Houston and turning the lot into a patio; putting ornamental fencing and landscaped buffers around the edges of parking lots, including that of Walgreens on Wilson and two gas stations on Route 31; and installing speed tables at Houston and Island and State and River. Speed tables are meant to slow traffic, but not as much as a speed bump does.
Part of the streetscape work could eliminate a right-turn lane on Wilson west of the McDonald's, to allow for widening of the sidewalk. The plan also suggests eliminating the right-turn-only lane on northbound Shumway at Wilson, again to make way for widening of a sidewalk.
The city spent about $68,000 for the plan, paid for out of money set aside in two of its downtown tax increment financing district funds. The total cost of the project has not been determined yet.
Besides increasing the attractiveness of the downtown, the idea is to have a more uniform look throughout, according to a May 26 presentation to the city council's community development committee. For example, an area on South Batavia Avenue, by the library and a church, has noticeably fewer trees than other areas of the downtown.
The grant is a matching grant, and it requires work to begin within three years. According to Batavia city engineer Noel Basquin, the work likely would not begin until 2012.
It was announced by Gov. Pat Quinn Oct. 29. It is part of the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program, a federally-funded program pushing alternative means of transportation.
“As the city continues to move forward with downtown enhancements, these funds enable us to beautify Batavia,” said Mayor Jeff Schielke in a prepared statement.
The program is funded through the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, the federal surface transportation funding bill.
The city council has not voted on the streetscape plan.