State Announces $3 Million For Windsor Road Reconstruction

Illinois’ Department of Transportation has announced $3-million in federal matching funds for reconstruction on Urbana’s Windsor Road.

In a press release, the city said this announcement means work on the $6-million project between Philo Road and Race Streets can likely start this summer. 

Over the past few months, concrete on Windsor has suffered from a chemical reaction, causing the surface to crumble, a problem that’s worsened during the harsh winter. 

The city will issue bonds to pay for the remaining costs.

On Friday, Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing announced plans to seek out the funding, but said the Windsor project was well in the works before then, including a visit from Gov. Pat Quinn last October.

“I talked to him then about the troubles we were having because the state exempted hospitals from paying property taxes," she said.  "I told him our No 1 problem was Windsor Road.”  

That led to a $250,000 commitment from the state for engineering work.

“Last week, after all these potholes developed, I was saying that really have to get it done this summer," Prussing said.

Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann Schneider cited the teamwork between the city and state that helped address an “urgent local need and enabled the project to go forward as quickly as possible.”