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KANKAKEE – When the annual Juneteenth celebration takes place this summer, the only sounds Mayor Chris Curtis hopes to hear are those of people enjoying the day.
The sounds of fireworks, recently purchased by the city for the event, will also fill the area on June 21.
What sound he does not want to hear is that of people voicing frustration regarding the ongoing $9-million reconstruction of Hobbie Avenue.
With concerns raised again by 1st Ward Alderwoman Cherry Malone-Marshall regarding the completion timeline, Curtis vowed the project would be finished prior to the Juneteenth celebration.
The project is nearing completion, city engineer Neil Piggush said during an update of the project at Monday’s Kankakee City Council meeting.
Piggush said the goal is that Kankakee Valley Construction Co. will begin pouring concrete about April 1 for curbing and sidewalks.
Once that portion of the project is completed, then asphalt can be laid. The asphalt is the final main components of the project.
Piggush is targeting late May or early June for the asphalt work.
After the meeting, Piggush was reluctant to place an end date on the project as it has gone longer than anticipated. He said the project would be completed this summer.
He said the project took longer because once the road was removed, it became an opportunity for the underground utilities to be updated.
Because much of the utility work could not be done at the same time, it stretched the project’s completion date.
The much-used, two-lane road in the 1st Ward was entirely removed and installation of new utilities from AT&T, Nicor Gas, Aqua Illinois and ComEd are largely completed.
With utility work almost finished, Piggush said the project to rebuild the crumbling road will be worth the discomfort it has caused.
When originally announced in October 2022, the project was slated for completion in late 2023.
Once complete, Hobbie will be three lanes, with a center turn lane that will stretch from one end of the 1-mile road from Illinois Route 50 on the north to East Court Street on the south.
New lighting will be a part of the finished product. Bike paths will be placed on each side of the road.
Two new railroad crossings have also been built.