April 19, 2024
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Montgomery officials revise Douglas Road, Sherman Avenue sidewalk project schedule following strike settlement

By John Etheredge
A worker checks on a freshly poured sidewalk in the 100 block of N. Fifth Street in Oregon on Monday. Construction on the street, parking, lot and Franklin Street continues.

FILE PHOTO: A worker checks on a freshly poured sidewalk.

Village of Montgomery officials have revised their plans to install new sections of sidewalk on the village’s near east side in the wake of the July 26 settlement of a quarry workers strike.

The seven-week strike by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 ended July 26 when members ratified a deal with 35 Chicago-area quarries, mines and gravel pits.

The strike delayed road and highway transportation projects throughout the Chicago area.

Upon the recommendation of Mark Wolf, the village’s public works director, the Village Board agreed during an Aug. 8 meeting to combine a sidewalk installation project planned for this year with another project planned for next year.

As a result, the village will seek contractor bids early next year for the installation of new sidewalks on Douglas Road and Sherman Avenue along with a shared use path on Montgomery Road.

The new sections of sidewalk will be installed along the east side of Douglas Road from an area just north of Montgomery Road to Sherman Avenue.

Two new sections of sidewalk will be installed along the east side of Douglas Road south of Montgomery Road. One section will extend 1 block south from Barbara Lane, while the other will extend north from the south entrance to the Settlers Landing shopping center to Seasons Ridge Boulevard.

The new sidewalk will extend along the south side of the Sherman Avenue between Fourth and Lafayette streets and then along the north side of the street from Lafayette Street west across Douglas Road to connect with an existing sidewalk at Krug Park. The existing sidewalk in Krug Park extends north from Sherman Avenue to Krug Elementary School.

The shared use path will be installed along the south side of Montgomery Road, extending west from Douglas Road to connect with an existing path section that currently dead-ends east of Briarcliff Road.

The location of new sidewalk sections along Douglas Road and Sherman Avenue north of Montgomery Road in Montgomery is highlighted on the map above. (illustration provided by the village of Montgomery)

The location of new sidewalk sections along Douglas Road and Sherman Avenue north of Montgomery Road in Montgomery is highlighted on the map above. (illustration provided by the village of Montgomery)

During a March 14 meeting, Peter Wallers, president of Engineering Enterprises Inc., told the Village Board that the goal of the Sherman Avenue/Douglas Road sidewalk project is to provide a safe access route to the school for Krug students.

Wallers said most of the new sidewalk along Sherman Avenue will be on the north side of the street to minimize the impact on adjoining homeowners.

Wallers said that all of the new sidewalk will be installed in the existing public right of way adjoining the two streets.

The Board voted unanimously Aug. 8 to award a contract totaling $63,212 to EEI to prepare engineering plans for the sidewalks and multiuse path.

The sidewalks are part of a five-year village program to improve pedestrian connectivity throughout the village that began in 2019 with the installation of paths at the village police station that connect with the Stuart Sports Complex north of Route 30 at Griffin Drive, and in selected locations in subdivisions on the village’s far west side.

In 2020, a path was installed connecting McDole Elementary School with the Stuart Sports Complex, and last year another new path section was constructed linking Route 30 and the Virgil Gilman Trail. The segment provides bike and pedestrian access to the Oswego Public Library District’s Montgomery Campus library at 1111 Reading Drive.