March 25, 2023
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The stoplight is gone: Main and Commercial streets in Marseilles are open

Landscaping work all that remains of S curve construction project

By Michael Urbanec
The stoplight at the corner of Main and Commercial Streets in Marseilles.

The intersection at Commercial and Main streets in Marseilles is now open, with only some landscaping work left to be completed in the spring. (Michael Urbanec)

The intersection at Commercial and Main streets in Marseilles is now open, with only some landscaping work left to be completed in the spring.

City Engineer Mike Etscheid said the stoplight should be gone for good now that the project to create an S curve is complete.

“It was a long process, and we’re pretty well pleased with how it turned out,” Etscheid said. “They put the signs in [Tuesday], but there are still some things that need to be taken care of – landscaping and things like that.”

Etscheid said Marseilles was awarded another $134,000 in federal money toward the project, which now has a cost of about $530,000.

This is a project from the state of Illinois, not Marseilles, so the city didn’t have control over the contract. There initially were concerns in October that work wouldn’t be finished on time and the stoplight would have to return in the spring.

Progress on the project moved forward, however, with the weather staying warmer than expected. Etscheid told the City Council in November that the temperature would have to stay above 45 degrees to allow for blacktopping of the bridge deck.