ELGIN –Two Elgin roads are set for an upgrade this year.
The Elgin City Council voted 4-0 Feb. 13 to accept Biggs Concrete’s bid to replace layers of chip and seal on Keeney Road and replace those layers with concrete. The project will cost about $1.05 million.
In a separate motion, the council voted unanimously to accept T & G Construction’s bid for a similar project on Thoma Drive for $520,205.36, according to minutes from the meeting.
Officials expect work on Keeney Road and Thoma Drive to begin in the next 30 days, Mayor JJ Francais said in an email to a Southwest Ledger reporter. He added that the work must be finished in 90 days, according to the contracts for those projects.
The city will benefit from both projects, Francais said.
“These road improvements will last for 40-plus years, meaning that rather than repair, repair, repair, we can fix it and move on to other projects,” he said.
Taken together, the two projects will cost about $1.57 million. Funding for both projects will come from the city’s 0.75% sales tax for road and sidewalk improvements.
In April 2023, voters approved a proposal to renew the sales tax for roads for another 10 years, along with a 0.25% sales tax for parks and recreation projects. The first sales tax is expected to generate at least $3.53 million for road and sidewalk projects, while the second tax will raise about $1.5 million for parks and recreation projects.