Evanston aldermen voted 7-2 Monday to apply for nearly $12 million in federal grant money to rebuild Church Street – committing the city to pay $4.6 million if it were awarded the highly competitive funding.
The state would likely foot half of that match money for upgrading the section of Church Street it controls, assistant city manager Martin Lyons said.
“The project is a large project,” he said. “(The state is) supportive of our moving forward with the grant.”
Lyons added the remaining funding could be rerouted from other smaller city projects, some of which are planned for Church Street. The two financing districts the street runs through could also supply additional money.
Acting on these proposals would leave $300,000 to be paid for through issuing general obligation bonds, he said.
At their Oct. 17 meeting, aldermen requested further detail on information about the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery III grant, which would provide a facelift to Church Street by reconstructing some of its parts and building a protected bike lane.
That bike lane would run from the Evanston lakefront to the north-south trail of Skokie’s Harms Wood Park and resemble the one recently built on Chicago’s Kinzie Street.
The City Council’s goals fall in line with the West Evanston tax increment finance district created in 2005 to address “disinvestment and economic stagnation,” according to a city memo. Its aim is to also generate new economic development, make neighborhoods more walkable and promote the city’s green character, the memo said.
The Tiger III grant would also emphasize sustainability by installing rain gardens and incorporating new technology to treat and filter storm water. It would also revamp sidewalks by improving their accessibility and bus stop infrastructure.
Though Evanston would receive about $11.7 million of the undertaking’s $16.3 million cost, Ald. Coleen Burrus (9th) said she could not support the grant due to concerns over borrowing. The city would be forced to provide significant funding when it should be keeping costs down, she said.
“Although I think it’s a great project, we’d be borrowing more money, yet again adding to our debt load,” Burrus said. “I always use the analogy – if you get a 30 percent coupon, you’re still spending 70 percent. I’m not sure this is what we want to be doing.”
Despite describing himself as an avid biker, Ald. Don Wilson (4th) said he also did not believe the city could stretch its spending wide enough to include this project.
“As important as protected bike lanes and improving cycling access is to me personally, I don’t think this is budgeted for,” Wilson said.
Last year, Evanston was denied the Tiger III grant, inspiring the public works department to include Skokie in its plans this time, said Suzette Robinson, the department’s director, at the Oct. 17 meeting.
Only two projects in Illinois were able to secure funds from the previous application process.
