The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation later this week.

Included in the bill was $500,000 to help build a new railroad grade separation bridge on North Seminary Street over the BNSF Railway tracks. The project is expected to cost about $12 million. EMS, fire, and other emergency service personnel face significant delays in response times to and from OSF St. Mary Medical Center and Galesburg Cottage Hospital due to railroad traffic, which is projected to increase by 68 percent during the next eight years. The construction of the overpass would significantly reduce traffic congestion.

City engineer Wayne Carl said the first-phase engineering for the Seminary Street overpass could be completed by September to October of 2008.

“Then we’ll probably look at buying right-of-way,” Carl said. “That’s probably where we would use that $500,000.”

He said some of the money, if the U.S. Senate approves the appropriations bill, also could be used for additional engineering costs.

“I’ll probably be convening the community advisory group sometime in February,” Carl said, “to look at access issues, driveway issues.”

Carl said it is important to the future of the grade separation projects that the General Assembly passes a capital bill. He said the state Senate already has passed a bill, but the House has not.

“The Senate version includes money for all three grade separations, in varying amounts, because we have funding earmarked already for North Seminary Street,” he said.

Carl said the earliest work could begin on Seminary Street is in the spring of 2010. He said work would take that entire construction season, and maybe into the following year.

“Roadway congestion in Galesburg has gotten out of control and the construction of an overpass will benefit all those who travel through this community,” Hare said. “In the case of emergency response, this effort to reduce traffic will literally save lives by allowing first responders to arrive on the scene of an accident in a more timely fashion.”

Passage of a capital funding bill by the House, if signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, would allow design work to begin on an underpass on East Main Street.
Design work already is under way for the West Main Street overpass.

“The earmark (in the state Senate bill) would pretty much cover most of the cost,” Carl said of the North Seminary Street project. He said the city will have to pay for 20 percent of the project, with 5 percent coming from the BNSF Railway for both the East and West Main Street projects.

Carl said BNSF has plans to add a third track to the Mendota Sub line, which crosses East Main Street. He said the railroad is looking at doing that work late in 2008. The additional track would not pose a problem for the city, however, as Carl said plans for the underpass already take into account additional track.

In a related development, Carl said diagnostic work for quiet zones has been completed. He said he expects the consultant to have a draft report ready in February.