Route 8 construction underway

WASHINGTON—Getting around on Illinois Route 8 through Washington has gotten a little harder for Scott Turk with the lane widening project underway.

“But we’ll get through it,” said Turk who often drives a pick-up truck with a trailer as part of his job with Backyard Pool and Spa, 825 School St.

The space to move around in is tighter, said Turk now that part of the School Street intersection is closed and the original three lanes are reduced to two.

“It just makes it a little harder to get in and out, but it will be so much easier when it’s done,” Turk added.

The $10.2 million road project is the final phase of a long-term plan by the Illinois Department of Transportation  to widen Illinois 8 to five lanes between East Peoria and Washington.

Currently, Illinois 8 between Summit Drive and Legion Street is a long strip of narrow road dotted with orange cones.

IDOT spokesman Brian Williamsen said the plan was to do the project in segments because of the significant disruptions that the lane widening causes.

“It makes travel in that area a challenge, but hopefully drivers and businesses can be patient with us,” Williamsen said. “When we are done, the project will be vast improvement and it will make it easier to access businesses.”

Included in the project is reconstructing and widening the sidewalks on both sides of Illinois 8. Williamsen said the sidewalks make the area more pedestrian friendly.

Although the overall project started more than 10 years ago, Williamsen said the Washington segment of the project is one of four parts to the final project that IDOT began in 2009 with reconstruction of the road in Sunnyland. The final piece of the project was funded through the state’s Illinois Jobs Now! program.

Construction will continue through next year and Williamsen said it will likely be completed in the fall of 2013.