SYCAMORE – Residents can anticipate road construction and temporary closures for Airport Road in early July, part of the stretch alongside the Sycamore Park District’s brand new community center.
City Engineer Mark Bushnell said the goal of the $1.09 million project, approved by city council during its May 7 meeting, is to provide a new paved surface with two 12-foot driving lanes on the road. He said the area covered in the project will include about a half-mile of roadway from state Route 64 south past the entrance of the new park district community center.
Bushnell said the road work won’t start until after July 6 and has a listed completion date of Sept. 28.
“But we don’t anticipate construction to take that long,” Bushnell said. “It’s more to give the contractor more flexibility during construction season.”
Bushnell said the longer time frame also gives the city better prices, as well. He said contractors will have to be available during that shorter time limit and can’t bid on other projects during that scheduled time, so the contractors will have to raise their prices to keep that shorter availability.
Once construction starts, Bushnell said, it will take about two months to complete the project – three months if there’s inclement weather during that time.
Bushnell said a 200-foot-long section of the roadway about 700 feet from Route 64 will need to be temporarily closed because of road reconstruction involving removal and replacement of the stone base course and pavement. He said at least one lane will be open for drivers while the contractor is working on the other sections of the road.
Bushnell said the detour routes will be posted by the contractor during the temporary closures, and the community center and community park will be accessible from the south.
Dan Gibble, executive director for the Sycamore Park District, said the city has been very good about communicating with the park district regarding how the construction will affect them.
“The few days that it might cause some slow-downs aren’t a concern for us,” Gibble said.
Sycamore Mayor Curt Lang said Airport Road’s current condition has a lot to do with construction for the new community center in the past year, with heavy machinery and trucks going up and down the roadway. He said the city planned on fixing the road sooner but decided to wait until the community center construction was finished.
“It’s been a priority for quite a while now,” Lang said.