Construction to start on Rock Falls’ Avenue A next week

ROCK FALLS – A $5.5 million construction project on about 10 blocks of Rock Falls’ Avenue A is set to start next week.

Avenue A is being rebuilt from East Third Street to East 10th Street, with the exception of where it crosses Dixon Avenue, Rock Falls City Administrator Robbin Blackert said. Construction will start at East Third Street and move south, she said. Work will begin either Tuesday or Wednesday.

“It’s a two-year project, and it’s a complete rebuild, which means it’s going to be completely cored out, new curbs – well, it didn’t have curbs and gutters – so now it’s going to have curbs and gutters,” Blackert said.

A new storm sewer system with pipes as large as 66 inches in diameter is being installed, she said.

Renovations of the lift station on Fifth Avenue behind Merrill School also are included in the $5.5 million project cost, Blackert said. The size of the lift station will be increased, along with its maximum intake capacity, she said.

The focus of the Avenue A project is to divert water away from Route 40 – First Avenue in city limits – during torrential rain events, Blackert said.

“Anybody who’s been in Rock Falls when it rains really, really hard knows that First Avenue floods,” she said. “I’m not going to say that that’s not still going to happen, but what we’re doing, it’s going to drain very quickly, and it probably will not get near as bad as it has in the past.”

The first two blocks of Avenue A set to be worked on are between East Third Street and Dixon Avenue and are not residential areas, Blackert said.

Martin & Co. Excavating of Oregon is the project’s main contractor and will alert residents before construction starts on their block, Blackert said. Residents are welcome to contact City Hall with any questions, she said.

Funds to pay for the Avenue A reconstruction project come from a $2 million Rebuild Illinois Public Infrastructure grant, motor fuel tax funds the city gets and a 1% sales tax Rock Falls imposes on all sales, Blackert said.

The city has been saving to pay for the project for about 3½ years and, combined with state grant money, has enough on hand to cover the cost, she said.

“We’re hoping that eventually we’ll be able to have some of the side streets off of that that aren’t curb and guttered also [redone],” Blackert said. “We’re hoping getting this new system in will be able to address some of those issues in the future now, too.”