As many as six groups representing various downtown interests have asked the City Council to tell state highway officials to abandon plans to widen Illinois Highway 64 when the thoroughfare is rebuilt in 1996.
The groups ranged from residents of the downtown’s two senior citizen complexes, the Baker Hotel and Carroll Towers, to the Chamber of Commerce and the city’s Tourism Board.
“We’re not asking for the entire plan to go away,” said Renee Hanlon, executive director of Friends of Downtown. “There’s just not enough room on Main Street.”
The $6.1 million project, planned to extend from 7th Avenue on the east side to 14th Street on the west, would replace the aging bridge over the Fox River and repair a stretch of highway that is used by more than 64,000 vehicles a day.
The Illinois Department of Transportation has told the city the new Illinois 64, known locally as Main Street, would have wider lanes to accommodate truck traffic.
But wider lanes mean that IDOT must eliminate some on-street parking or reduce the width of sidewalks. The agency has asked city officials to decide by Nov. 15 which option they prefer so advance engineering can begin.
Hanlon said downtown interests do not want to lose parking, which they say is vital for business, nor see sidewalks reduced to 7 feet from an average width of 10.5 feet.
“Everyone is concerned about the safety of pedestrians and maintaining a healthy business climate,” Hanlon said. “The merchants believe this project is going to kill us.”
Ald. Sue Klinkhamer, chair of the council’s Downtown Committee, said the groups are presenting their concerns late in the planning stage.
The committee plans to meet Nov. 15 to consider a recommendation to the full council.