Gone are the days of taking eye-rolling detours which flustered multiple drivers in Freeport. This month, recent street construction wrapped up and reopened multiple roads after a summer of construction.
This summer, the City of Freeport started multiple projects on the following streets: Stephenson, Park, Carroll, Greenfield, Empire, Blackhawk, Adams, Willow, and more.
Yes, it may be annoying, but it’s not without a reason.
Wayne Duckmann, Director of Community and Economic Development in Freeport, explains that these projects are needed to repair and maintain the water and sewage lines in Freeport;“[T]he city passed a 5-year roadway reconstruction plan that serves as a multi-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). CIPs are used by many municipalities and private organizations,” he said.
Darin Stykel, Community Development Director of Freeport, explains the scope of this CIP, “The city has 139 miles of roadway to maintain and replace. The city is very behind in road updates and replacement from years of under investment in this area. Water mains are under the street and are failing with the need of replacement. Many of our streets have been overlaid so many times the City is at a point of needing full street construction down to the dirt base.”
Many people around Freeport have been affected by these construction projects. These projects even disturbed the first day of school for Blackhawk Elementary. Parents and children could not access the roads that lead to the school in order to drop their kids off. The only access to their building was blocked off, and buses could not drop kids off out front. Because of recent boundary changes, new parents were unaware and unfamiliar with routines of the school.
Stacey Kleindl, principal of Blackhawk Elementary said “I felt like things were out of my control.”
If you are a resident of Freeport, you might have to be prepared to face more future construction projects that will impact your day. Duckmann said that “discontent with roadway construction is temporary and leads to an outcome that provides safe transportation.”
This is the largest number of construction projects Freeport has seen in years. According to Stykel, the City completed more road projects in the last 3 years than was completed in the last 25 years combined.
This is an exciting time for the City of Freeport, and while we may have to deal with temporary discomfort and slowed traffic, these inconveniences resemble growing pains of the future of Freeport,
“Ultimately, I want the public to know that the City has heard its people. We have listened to the people and took the steps necessary to improve our roads,” Duckamnn said.
