Peru unveils Unytite Drive extension: 'It went quickly'

Peru cut the ribbon on its newest road Thursday morning as members of the city government, transportation representatives and elected officials gathered to open Unytite Drive.

The new road extension, that now connects Route 251 and Plank Road, spans just less than a mile of newly-constructed pavement. The city began construction with the intent for more connectivity with the city’s industrial court.

The total timeframe from planning and obtaining grants to completion of the project took place over the last few years, while actual construction was completed in around four months — two weeks ahead of schedule

The city applied for and was awarded a private-public partnership with Omnitracs for an Illinois freight grant. The completion of the road is one part of the project that will be followed by an updated Peru industrial rail system which runs along the north side of Unytite Drive.

The city used a combination of grants and STU funds that were allocated to the city in order to fund the project. With the construction of the road, the city hopes it can attract more industrial and commercial development to the plots of land surrounding the road.

With multiple organizations coming together to make this project possible, Peru Director of Engineering and Zoning Eric Carls thanked everyone from the construction company to inspectors and IDOT for their hard work in getting the road done quickly and safely.

“Everybody has been a really good project team,and it’s been a really successful project once we were able to break ground and get going,” Carls said. “It went quickly, and we are happy to have it open and get people driving on it.”