Among the many topics brought up during South Jacksonville’s triple-header meeting on Thursday was discussion regarding Hardin Avenue.
The safety along Hardin Avenue has been brought up at meetings for the better part of a year. Back in May, a survey of residents living a Hardin Avenue confirmed they felt the road had become unsafe and that truck traffic should be eliminated.
In an effort to address the situation, Jim Burke of Hutchison Engineering presented sidewalk ideas to trustees. Burke said the sidewalk would be on the west side of Hardin, stretching from Vandalia to Michigan.
“You can offset the sidewalk from the edge of the pavement a certain amount and then fill in the ditches and create backslopes. That would create a minimum of 10 to 15 foot construction easement on that street. Included in the cost is not just sidewalk. It includes curb and gutter and manholes. We anticipate you would put in new concrete aprons for every driveway, from edge of pavement to what would be the edge of the sidewalk,” says Burke.
Burke said the operation would be similar to the new sidewalk put in place on Woodson’s Main Street, only three times larger. The estimated cost is $740,000.
Burke noted that trustees went “above and beyond” to answer the safety questions asked by the community. No action was taken on the topic.
In other action, trustees added slow moving vehicles and utility vehicles to the proposed golf cart ordinance, which will be up for a vote during the August meeting.
The village is still looking into options for a company to conduct IT repairs. Mayor Steve Waltrip hopes to have a company picked in the near future so improvements can begin.
A ground breaking ceremony for Love’s Travel Stop & Country Store was also proposed for next month.