Construction on the only overpass in Springfield’s rail improvements project is expected to commence in early 2025 after federal officials announced $157 million in final grant funds.
The federal allocation, announced by U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, and by U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, and Tammy Duckworth, D-Hoffman Estates, also will help pay for construction of the transportation center known as The Hub – with train and bus access – immediately north of the Sangamon County Building.
Attached to the Hub will be a four-level parking deck with 600-plus spaces.
“This is the last piece of funding for the project,” Sangamon County Board Chair Andy Van Meter, a Springfield Republican, told Illinois Times. “We can say with confidence that it will happen.”
Completion of the entire $471 million project, designed to alleviate rail congestion in Springfield by consolidating Third Street corridor rail traffic along 10th Street, is now expected in fall 2027.
Work on final parts of the project was delayed when local officials were unable to secure $138 million in federal funding a year ago. The amount of money needed to complete the project has risen since then because of inflation, Van Meter said.
Construction bids for eventual contracts paid for with the new influx of money will be solicited in the next 60 to 90 days, he said.
Most of the project is being paid for by the federal government. County government will pay for about $40 million of the total, funded with low-interest borrowing that won’t result in any tax increases, Van Meter said.
Springfield city government contributed about $2.5 million to the overall cost, and several million came from the Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois Commerce Commission, he said.
Durbin said in an Oct. 25 news release: “Connecting communities is at the heart of transportation, and today’s announcement of federal funding for a new Amtrak station, rail improvements and track realignments in Springfield will better connect passengers between St. Louis and Chicago. The Springfield Rail Improvements Project is dramatically changing downtown Springfield by reducing rail congestion, creating jobs and improving safety for passengers, drivers and pedestrians.”
Budzinski added, “This investment, and the new 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument along the project’s route, will honor our history and build a bright future for our city.”
The overpass will carry North Grand Avenue over Norfolk Southern and Illinois Midland railroad tracks from 11th to 19th streets. The overpass will reach a height of about 30 feet, according to Mike Mendenhall, senior structural engineer at Hanson Professional Services Inc. Hanson is providing design and engineering services for the overall project.
The overpass will be adjacent to Robin Roberts Stadium, which is about the same height as the highest part of the planned overpass, Mendenhall said.
The latest round of federal grant funding also will allow construction of an underpass that will route North Grand under Union Pacific tracks between Ninth and 11th streets, according to Nate Bottom, Springfield’s chief city engineer.
A second set of Union Pacific tracks will be installed as part of rail improvements to accommodate increased rail traffic along the 10th Street corridor, Bottom said.
The Hub will cost $129 million and will include an indoor, air-conditioned County Square atrium near the entrance, with a “grand stair” going up three stories and elevators for those who don’t want to use the steps.
The atrium will have seating for people to gather, enjoy food and drinks sold by a built-in cafe and view free entertainment, Van Meter said. Once completed, The Hub will provide the new public entrance to the County Building, replacing the current entrance along Ninth Street.
County continues expansion, renovations
County government, using some of the funds from low-interest borrowing, is in the midst of a renovation of the first and second floors of the County Building at 200 S. Ninth St. The goal is to make “public-facing” services more convenient and make the more than 30-year-old structure more accessible for people with physical disabilities, Van Meter said.
Traffic Court, part of the circuit clerk’s office and the offices of the treasurer, recorder and supervisor of assessments are being moved from upper floors to the first floor of the building.
The county purchased the former State Journal-Register building, immediately south of the County Building, in 2021 and is renovating the 135,000-square-foot structure with funds from the low-interest borrowing and federal American Rescue Plan Act for the sheriff’s department and county coroner’s office.
The first and second phases of work for the sheriff will create a larger evidence storage area and new office areas, costing a total of $5.7 million.
The almost-complete $9.2 million in renovations for the coroner’s office will include the county’s first-ever county-owned morgue, autopsy suite and offices for the coroner and the office’s forensic pathologist.
Coroner Jim Allmon has said his office’s expanded facilities will become a resource for the central Illinois region.
