Rain today pushed back the reopening of South Marion, but village officials expect the one-block stretch to be ready for traffic tomorrow.
Crews have been working for months to beautify the 100 block of South Marion, dressing it up with brick streets, bluestone sidewalks and an overhead canopy of lights. Oak Park is pouring about $5.4 million into the stretch, hoping to unify it with the block to north.
The village had planned to completely reopen the street to traffic today, but it’s pushing things back by 24 hours because of the rain, according to Village Engineer Jim Budrick. If the weather cooperates tomorrow, South Marion should be wide open by the end of the workday Wednesday.
“We were hoping to today, but the rain pretty much put a damper on that,” he said.
Workers still need to lay bricks on Marion, just south of Pleasant, before the street is ready for cars and pedestrians. Beyond that, Budrick said crews will start installing the overhead canopy of lights at Pleasant and Marion on Monday, and some planters still need to be installed there, too.
There are no penalties in the contract for finishing behind schedule, Budrick said. The business district plans to host a grand reopening ceremony for the street on Dec. 1.