Pictured is an engineering graphic of the proposed roundabout to be constructed on Route 156 at Lakeview Drive just west of Route 3 in Waterloo.
(courtesy of Illinois Department of Transportation)

Work continues on the Route 3 improvement project in Waterloo, with an expected completion date still set for the end of this year.

The Illinois Department of Transportation said Moore Street on both sides of Route 3 has been shifted approximately 100 feet to the south as part of the project. This new alignment is now open to traffic.

The old alignment is closed and that pavement will be removed soon, IDOT said. The overhead street lights at this intersection will soon be relocated.

Traffic will be shifted to the outside on Route 3 at North Market Street as workers build raised medians in the north leg from the traffic lights to the Applebee’s entrance and south leg from the lights to the Huck’s entrance.

This work will consist of installing storm sewers, inlets, and curbs and gutters and should take about a month to complete, IDOT said.

North Market Street traffic turning right onto northbound Route 3 will no longer have a dedicated lane to free flow, an IDOT representative explained. Instead, motorists will turn into an acceleration lane from which they will yield and merge left. This will be a permanent change.

Now that the Monroe County Fair has ended, the contractor will begin excavating for the roundabout planned on Route 156 at Lakeview Drive near the Monroe County Farm Bureau office. The next step there will be installation of storm sewers, inlets, aggregate, curbs and gutters.

There’s no definite timetable on when the roundabout will be completed, IDOT said, other than it will be done by the end of the year…>>>

Read the rest of this story in the August 3 issue of the Republic-Times. If you don’t already receive the paper, you can subscribe by calling 939-3814 or clicking here, or pick up a copy at any of these locations.