Eight Things You'll Want to Know About the Route 47 Project

Much of Route 47 in  will be rebuilt starting this spring after aldermen voted unanimously last week to approve a formal agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The bids will be solicited this fall, and construction is expected to take three years. Some of the vast changes and construction plans include:

•  Crews can work on the project any time of day, City Administrator Bart Olson said. Detours will happen occasionally, but in general, two-way traffic will remain open on Route 47 throughout the project.

• Yorkville is projected to pay about $2.3 million of the project’s total $53 million cost over 10 years. That’s a monthly payment of about $20,000.

• The reconstruction will stretch from Carpenter Street, near on the city’s North Side, to Fountainview Drive at the entrance of CarCare Collision Center on the South Side, Olson said. In general, the middle section will be built first, followed by the south section and then the north section.

• The intersection of Routes 34 and 47 will include several upgrades, such as a landscaped median along Route 34 north of the intersection and four islands where the crosswalks meet in the intersection.

• Cars won’t be able to cross Route 47 at Orange Street, Olson said. East Orange Street will become a right-in, right-out-only intersection at Route 47, while West Orange Street will become left-turn or right-turn only at Route 47.

• The downtown business area will include narrower sidewalks, no on-street parking, no hanging baskets and galvanized fencing and handrails, Olson said.  The large retaining wall near the and the Muellner building at the southwest corner of Van Emmon Road and Route 47 will be removed. A more gradual slope will be installed near the Historic Courthouse.

• The area around Elizabeth and South Main streets will be reconfigured so that Elizabeth Street goes straight to intersect Route 47, and a stop sign will be installed at an intersection with Elizabeth Street.

• Workers will build conduits and bases for the streetlights during the project. After, the city will spend about $700,000 more to install combination roadway and pedestrian lighting, Olson said. The city also will spend an estimated $100,000 for city engineers to supervise the project over the three-year construction period.