Carbondale city leaders trying to connect northeast side with rest of town

CARBONDALE, Ill. (KFVS) - City leaders in Carbondale are trying to make access from the city’s northeast side to the retail district a whole lot easier.

The city is working on a grant that would connect Oak Street to Rendleman Road. Cody Lueker, the city of Carbondale’s economic development coordinator, said there are only a few roads leading to the retail district.

“Northeast Carbondale has been historically isolated from the rest of the town, there’s only a few roads going in and out,” said Lueker.

This potential plan would allow more access for northeast side residents. It would also allow access for people to bike and walk.

According to Lueker, it would include a multi-use path, 10 feet wide on the north, and a sidewalk five feet wide to the south.

“This would allow the residents of northeast Carbondale to avoid having to navigate Route 13, the two busy streets of Walnut and Main. And it would improve travel time and safety,” said Lueker.

The city of Carbondale applied for a federal grant worth more than $5M for the project.

“So this would drastically improve the ability to get to places like Aldi which has groceries and then just the whole retail district in general which includes a lot of jobs for folks,” said Lueker.

The grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation would cost taxpayers nothing.

City leaders said residents on the northeast side have been asking for this for a while.

“This has actually been an unfunded project on our books since 1985, the residents have requested time and time again to improve the access to northeast Carbondale,” said Lueker.

There is no timetable when or if the grant will be awarded. If it is, the project will take a couple of years to complete.

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