A section of road near Jacksonville High School will soon receive some much-needed improvements.
The Jacksonville City Council approved a bid for improvements to North Diamond Street last night. The work will focus along the area from West Walnut to the back entrance of the high school
Ward 4 Alderman Aaron Scott says the project has been in the works for some time and will add greater accessibility for the high school.
“The project is going to involve resurfacing the road and then it will be stripped with bike lanes and such. They will redo the sidewalks, and actually, on the west side, it will end up with a new seven-foot-wide sidewalk that will go from Walnut all the way down past the high school, and there will be accessible ramps instead of curbs.”
Scott says thanks to grant funding, the project will come hopefully at little or no cost to the city.
“Originally the city applied for one million dollars for this project and was awarded five hundred thousand in a D.C.E.O. Grant. It’s anticipated that the five hundred thousand will cover construction and engineering on the project. Unless there are some unforeseen circumstances that come up.”
K. E. Vas of Jacksonville was awarded the bid to complete the work. Scott says the plan is for the area to be accessible by both traffic and pedestrians during construction. Work is set to begin soon with the intent of having it completed by fall.