Durbin sees funds at work
Pontiac, Ill. — U.S. Senator Dick Durbin was in Pontiac early Tuesday to view the Livingston County Community Pantry to see how the volunteers at the facility had used the $4,275.50 in federal stimulus money.
Joan Bevill of the pantry’s Board of Directors had written each member of Congress a thank-you for the federal money and how much it had helped the Pontiac organization.
“Revitalizing the Warehouse District is one of our top priorities in Peoria,” Mayor Jim Ardis said in the release. “Changing the character of the streets in the area will change the character of the neighborhood and attract much needed investment.”
According to the release, the $10 million grant is to design and build “a complete street network that is safe, walkable and attractive” within the Warehouse District. The district extends from Downtown south toward MacArthur and encompasses several blocks of old warehouse buildings.
The $10 million would conceivably be enough to fund the road narrowing project along Washington, if the City Council agrees to utilize $10.7 million in unused state money for the project. That money was set aside for work on the now-defunct S-curve project in the North Valley.
The overall lane-narrowing project of Washington Street, from Hamilton Boulevard to MacArthur Highway, would cost $16 million.
The city, for years, has eyed a revitalization of the area from aging industrial buildings into a district of apartments and shops.
The $10 million in federal funding is through an U.S. Department of Transportation Investments Generation Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grant created by Congress in the 2010 Transportations Appropriations Act for capital investments.
Only $600 million was available for grants nation wide. Two other projects in Illinois — one in Chicago, the other in Moline — got money through the grant program.