Construction Projects Could be Wasteful

Tools

By Eric Shangraw

Story Published: Jul 1, 2009 at 4:32 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jul 1, 2009 at 7:02 PM CDT

A series of small construction projects on Interstate-55 north of Normal has a local elected official pointing the finger at government waste.

Stark Construction is building new guardrails and crash barriers along bridge abutments in the median.

Here's the concern:

Two weeks ago the state paid to haul black dirt to the sights, have it graded, and seeded.

Now those sites are being dug up for the barriers.

Chenoa Mayor Walt Hetman says it's a waste of taxpayer dollars because "You are doubling the workload. We have to pay for them to put the dirt down and then we have to pay for them to dig it up. And then put it back down again. It makes no sense to me. It is just a waste of our money."

Kensil Garnett, an Illinois Department of Transportation Engineer, says under state guidelines, seeding has to be done by a certain date... so the contractor has to plant seeds no matter what phase the project is in.

Garnett says the project is 15 percent complete and should be finished by the end of the month.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

WEEK News 25 - and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

More Good Stuff

Advertisement
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Stock Quotes

What's On TonightFull Schedule

Local Business Dir