Public will get to weigh in on proposed 'road diet' for MLK Jr. Drive

The city of Springfield's Office of Public Works will hold a public meeting on the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive safety improvement project at the Salvation Army, 1600 E. Clear Lake Ave., from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday.

No formal presentations will be made at the meeting. The format gives the public a chance to ask questions, review exhibits and leave written comments. City representatives and consultants from Quigg Engineering, Inc. will be on hand.

The proposal is a "road diet" for MLK Drive from Clear Lake Avenue to South Grand Avenue.

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Under the plan, one lane of traffic in each direction would be eliminated. A bi-directional turn lane would be inserted in the middle and bike lanes would be added to the outside.

Walnut Street from South Grand Avenue to Monroe Street was reconfigured in a similar manner in 2021.

The MLK Drive project includes signal upgrades at the South Grand Avenue and Cook Street intersections. The project will resurface the roadway from South Grand to Adams Street and restripe the roadway up to Clear Lake.

The improvements will include resident and business commercial entrance consolidations for safety and ADA sidewalk improvement at intersections.

The city was awarded Highway Safety Improvement Program funds through the Illinois Department of Transportation to improve the section. The overall cost of the project is $3.5 million.

Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) funding will be utilized to cover the remainder of the balance of engineering and construction.

The public will be able to view project location and aerial strip maps and crash and traffic data for the area.

The meeting will allow the public opportunities to review and provide written comments. The public can either leave comments or mail them into the city.

There will be a ten‐day public comment period following the meeting. The project development report will be updated to include a summary of the meeting. Written comments received during the meeting or mailed into the city will become part of the project development report.

For more information, go to the Public Works website and look for the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive safety improvement project.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Public will get to see plans for east side street in Springfield IL