The Danville City Council has approved a variety of road projects for the near future. City Engineer Sam Cole says about 20 percent of Danville’s streets are being touched in some way this year. One of the biggest projects should get going this spring. After looking the same for several decades, the Jackson-Voorhees intersection is getting a facelift. Cole says the trick is going to be adjusting the approach, so that when you hit the four way stop, it’s much more aligned. And the city had to acquire properties on the northwest and southeast corners of the intersection to make this work.
AUDIO: I’d like to say we’re straightening it. We’re actually making it slightly more crooked. But it will align better north to south, so it should be a lot easier to go through. We’re also widening it on three of the legs of the intersection, so that you can actually get an adequate left turn lane in there, and people aren’t sandwiched in there so tight. It’ll be improved from basically Vermilion Street to almost Washington Street, and then a couple hundred feet north of the intersection and a couple hundred feet south as well.
Cole says Voorhees will remain passable during the work, but the northern and southern approaches of Jackson will each need to be closed at some point.
Another project being worked on is Madison from Chandler to Robinson. This will help with adjustments being made around the Carle at the Riverfront project, such as Logan no longer being a through street.
AUDIO: It connects two intersections that have been improved by Carle, as part of their project. It basically will replace curb and gutter, and sidewalk, and repave the roadway in that section. It also involves a small amount of drainage improvements. With Logan Avenue being closed, Madison Street actually becomes an arterial street. If you’ve driven through there, the intersection is curved now through there. Essentially, it just modernizes it all.
Also, design work will begin on the portion of Williams, about a half-mile or so, east of Bowman to State Street. Cole says they hope to open bidding for the project by June of 2023, with work starting in fall of 2023 or spring of 2024.
