PEORIA HEIGHTS Ill. – The Illinois Department of Transportation held a public hearing Wednesday, at Peoria Heights High School, regarding the proposed improvements to Illinois Route 29.
The project will impact residents on Galena Road, just north of the McClugage Bridge in Peoria Heights, to north of Gardner Lane in Peoria.
The proposed improvements include reconstruction of 2-point-6 miles of Illinois 29 and the addition of a bi-directional turn lane and pedestrian and bicycle accommodations.
The project’s manager, Karen Dvorsky.
“This is kind of our rollout to the public. The final rollout, we have had many meetings along the way, met with many property owners, a lot of community people, we’ve had a lot of coordination along the way. But, this is our final step for our phase 1 engineering study,” Dvorsky said.
Dvorsky says, though around 8 households will have to relocate, it’s a necessary change.
“Illinois 29, first it was a two-lane facility — then it turned into a four-lane — and it has reached the end of its serviceable life. Along the way, we have patched and peeled the pavement, but now the pavement is at the end of its life. So, we are going to reconstruct,” Dvorsky said.
Scott Owen is a Peoria Heights resident and property owner, who says he’ll be impacted by the current plans.
“I won’t have access to my garage. I park a car in there, keep a lawnmower, I want access to it. They said no. They are claiming that the slope of the hill is too great to put it in there. The slope on my garage, rises two-feet and 45-feet, there is no slope there,” Owen said.
The project would also relocate the Grand View Drive Pavilion, a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places, about 40 to 60 feet west of its current location.
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