Good weather makes for good progress on Marseilles I-80 sewer project

Approximately half of the new sanitary sewer has been installed in the Walbridge Creek subdivision, a group of houses about one mile north of Interstate 80 in Marseilles.

This subdivision is the farthest north water will be run. Work on the area of 11th Street heading north on Rutland Street toward the Shell Station will begin soon, according to Marseilles Mayor Jim Hollenbeck.

This is a project that’s been decades in the making. But it finally passed through the Marseilles City Council in July when John Pohar Construction’s $4.2 million bid was approved.

Exit 97 off I-80 has sat abandoned for some time because of the lack of water and sewer lines. The only building within a mile of the interstate — beyond a few farmhouses — is a long-abandoned Taco Time.

The Taco Time property has been purchased by a developer with the intention of opening a truck stop and a restaurant, Hollenbeck told The Times in July.