The Waterloo City Council received status updates on an ongoing road project and took steps for the start of another during its meeting on Monday night.

Waterloo Director of Public Works Tim Birk told the council that workers began pouring concrete for one lane of Moore Street between Mill and Third streets on Monday.

Currently, the eastern legs of Third Street and Fourth Street remain closed to traffic, as well as Moore Street from Poplar to Third, so workers can pour new concrete streets, sidewalks and curb and guttering as part of massive improvements to Moore Street that began last year.

New storm sewers and new gas and water lines are also part of this project, Birk said.

The construction contract for this project lasts until the fall.

In other news from Monday, the council approved multiple resolutions required as part of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s planned phase one improvements for Route 3 near Vandebrook Drive.

In all, the Route 3 improvement project encompasses more than four miles from North Market to Vandebrook Drive, and includes additional lanes, shared-use paths, a roundabout near the Monroe County Farm Bureau Office, and relocation of Vandebrook Drive to connect with South Market Street.

Phase one of the project deals with the Vandebrook Drive relocation and other improvements up to around Library Street, Birk said. The cost is $5.3 million for this first phase, of which the city is paying only $37,286.

Illinois Excavating won the bid for this initial phase, and work could begin in June.

Awarding of the bid for the much larger phase two of the Route 3 project is slated for next week.

Among the action items approved related to this project include an intergovernmental agreement between the city, county and fire district for an emergency-controlled stoplight at Route 3 and Illinois Avenue. This will allow fire and ambulance vehicles to control that new stoplight, once installed, to more quickly respond to emergencies.

The council also awarded a low bid in the amount of $485,400 to CALCO Inc. for gas main relocation and lowering as part of the entire Route 3 improvement project.

Budget

Waterloo is set to approve its 2013-14 fiscal year budget next Monday night. City finance director Shawn Kennedy said budgeted expenditures for all funds is $30.6 million. This compares to the 2012-13 total of $27.5 million.

Proposed utility fund expenditures are $22.3 million, she said. Major capital projects in this fund include the relocation of utilities as part of the Route 3 project at an estimated cost of $3.1 million.

The city has also budgeted $1.3 million for the potential construction of a service connection with Ameren to improve Waterloo’s electrical transmission reliability, Kennedy said.

The general fund accounts for $7.4 million of expenditures. Capital projects in this fund include completion of Moore Street work and other street department projects which are partially funded through federal and state programs.

The budget, which takes effect May 1 once approved, is available for viewing on the city’s website, www.waterloo.il.us.