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Elm Street in Franklin Park and River Grove getting rebuilt
Elm Street on the border of Franklin Park and River Grove has been awarded money for reconstruction. | Mark Lawton/Sun-Times Media
Updated: May 27, 2012 8:05AM
Residents of Elm Street on the border of Franklin Park and River Grove will likely find themselves with a smooth new street by next summer.
On April 10, the North Center Council of Mayors awarded the two villages funds from the federal surface transportation program.
“The total costs is estimated at $3.7 million,” Franklin Park village engineer Dave Talbot said. “They will cover 80 percent of the cost. The two villages will split 20 percent.”
Reconstruction
The project will involve reconstructing Elm from Grand Avenue to Belmont Avenue, about six-tenths of a mile. The street is home to a fire station and the District 84 administration center, along with small apartment buildings and single-family houses
Elm Street is a rough ride, with pits and cracks from north to south.
“I was complaining about it two years ago,” River Grove resident Curt Curcio said. “They’ve been patching it up for the last three, four, five years. It needs repair or repaving.”
The reconstruction might involve widening Elm, though the details of the street reconstruction have yet to be settled, Talbot said.
Curcio would be fine with widening.
“You have that fire station by the railroad tracks (and we) get fire trucks going through here two to 10 times a day,” Curcio said. “After a train, it backs up. It should be widened and that would improve things.”
State OK needed
Before reconstruction starts, the state has to approve traffic and environmental studies. Afterward, the federal Highway Administration has to approve detailed plans.
In a separate project, Franklin Park aims to install a water main from Park Lane to Grand Avenue. Currently, Franklin Park residents on the west side of Elm Street get their water from River Grove. Money for the project, estimated at $475,000, will come out of the 2013-14 budget, Franklin Park’s Talbot said.
