The Oswego Village Board recently approved a resolution authorizing a $3.1 million contract with a Plano-based firm for an enhancement project on Harrison Street in the village’s downtown.
The Harrison streetscape improvement project will be nestled along the Fox River and within a downtown tax increment financing district, village officials said.
“The rebuilding of Harrison Street is one of the most exciting downtown projects that we are likely to see for quite a while. It is long overdue,” Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman said.
The Village Board awarded a contract to Plano-based H. Linden & Sons Sewer and Water, Inc. to reconstruct about 800 feet of South Harrison Street south of Washington Street. The project will be paid for through the village’s capital improvement fund.
“The project improves a dilapidated roadway and transforms it into a safer, flourishing corridor for pedestrians, businesses and residents through elements such as community specific identifiers, landscape planters and plenty of seating that accentuate a sense of place,” Oswego Assistant Village Engineer Andre Jungermann said.
The project will help invigorate the riverfront south of Washington Street and is the first step in connecting South Harrison Street to West Benton Street in the downtown, officials said. The project will also provide the village with an area to host special events as well, Jungermann said.
The original plan was to resurface South Harrison Street. The village entered into agreements to accept an additional 26 feet of donated right-of-way that allows for a more “substantial and complete landscape design” along the road, according to officials.
The overall project includes roadway construction, curb and gutter, sidewalks, brick pavers, decorative lighting and landscaping, as well as utility improvements, pavement markings, signage and restoration, officials said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.