The Village of Peoria Heights has received a $2 million federal earmark that will be put toward phase one engineering and design work on a reinvented Prospect Road.
The earmark, which was sponsored by Congressman Darin LaHood, was part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, the $1.7 trillion spending package passed by Congress just after Christmas. The Village must come up with $500,000 for its portion, 20% of the overall cost.
Ultimately, Village leaders want to reconstruct 1.1 miles of Prospect between War Memorial Drive and Tower Park, through the Downtown Business District. Proposed improvements include replacement of underground infrastructure and pavement, new and wider sidewalks, better bicycle and transit facilities, and a redesigned, aesthetically improved streetscape.
These dollars represent the first step toward that goal. This is considered a signature project for the Heights.
“Congressman LaHood has been terrific representing Peoria Heights,” said Mayor Michael Phelan. “We’ll put it to good use.”
In other recent action:
The Village Board created a new class of liquor license, Class J, for beer brewed and sold on site to accommodate a new brew pub in the Village.
Amber and Brian Buss will open a new craft brewery on what’s commonly known as the old Grayboy property on Prospect Road, in the building formerly occupied by the Subway sandwich shop. Brian Buss is a contract engineer at Natural Fiber Welding and former brewmaster at Peoria’s Industry Brewing.
“I’m excited to be the first operating brewery (in the Heights) since Pabst in the 1980s,” said Brian, who views the 4410 N. Prospect Road location as something of a “starter home” that, with any success, the couple hopes to outgrow at some point.
The Class J license has no requirement for food, but with a dozen restaurants inside a two-block radius, “we’d rather leave that to the professionals,” said Brian. The Busses expect to have their brew pub ready for a May opening.
Saturday, May 13 has been set aside for the annual Heights Fine Art Fair, which is relocating to the Tower Park area. The Peoria Heights Arts Collaborative initially asked the Village Board to permit a two-day event, but trustees balked at closing Prospect Road to traffic overnight given concerns about the impact on local businesses.
Trustees indicated they might be open to a two-day event in the future if those concerns can be addressed.
The Board approved the expenditure of nearly $524,000 for work on the Forest Park Drive overlay project. The money comes from the state’s Rebuild Illinois capital construction program and from state motor fuel tax (MFT) dollars, not local funds.
The project represents the most significant structural work done on the roadway in 20 years. The overlay project will begin in May and could close Forest Park Drive for up to a month.
“It shows the importance of MFT,” said Phelan. “We have a lot of needs here in the Village when it comes to maintaining roads.”
A consultant’s study regarding the capital needs of the Village’s water system has been completed and provides an investment roadmap for five years and 20 years out, respectively.
Village officials will be sharing the results of that infrastructure analysis over the next few months.
“The next part is how do we finance these projects,” said Community Development Director Wayne Aldrich. Among the options are bonding for improvements, water rate increases, grants or perhaps some combination.
The Village has updates from the Illinois Department of Transportation regarding the status of Route 29/Galena Road reconstruction, which is in Phase 1 engineering and design. The nearly $70 million project will include widening the road, building curbs and gutters, and constructing a recreational path on the bluff side of the road.
“Huge engineering challenges, lots of excavation,” said Aldrich. “We may want to include certain things in the project that IDOT doesn’t traditionally pay for.”
The Peoria Heights Farmers Market will make its move to Tower Park permanent this coming summer, starting May 25 and continuing every Thursday through Sept. 28.
Last year, the farmers market returned to the Heights after a multiple-year absence, initially setting up shop in the parking lot behind the Pabst building. It wasn’t as visible as its organizers hoped it would be, and so mid-season the weekly event moved to Tower Park, which resolved the visibility issue and provided other amenities both aesthetic and pragmatic, including restrooms.
It was “a real game-changer,” said market organizer Julie Bielfeldt. “We’ve tweaked and tweaked and tweaked, and we’ll still keep tweaking.”
A Meet the Candidates event featuring those running for seats on the Peoria Heights Village Board and the Peoria Park District, Central District will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18 at Peoria Pizza Works, 3921 N. Prospect Road.
The League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria also will hold a Peoria Heights Village Board candidate forum at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, at the Peoria Heights Public Library, 816 E. Glen Ave. Participating will be candidates Michael W. Casey, Sarah DeVore, Elizabeth Khazzam and Brandon Wisenburg. The Q&A session will be livestreamed on the League’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHjdurif6_j7aqNLLlFXzKQ , while those in attendance can submit questions for potential use.