ROCHELLE – The City of Rochelle is currently replacing sidewalks, curbs and gutters in certain areas throughout town.
Construction is taking place between Fifth Avenue and just south of Cherry Avenue to north of the Union Pacific Railroad, a short section on Sixth Avenue and Sixth Street and approximately 600 feet of curb and gutter replacement on 10th avenue in front of Tilton School.
These replacements were needed to upgrade the sidewalks that were beginning to fall apart and were no longer up to code.

“The sidewalks are failing, they are deteriorated and not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” explained city engineer Sam Tesreau.
Along with the sidewalk repairs downtown, the city will also be replacing the street lights along Main Street.
The construction began in August and is expected to be complete by the end of October. There are many businesses located along the construction area but none of them have been forced to close due to the work.

“No one has closed down because they have alternate access or we have provided temporary access to all of those businesses. And all of the business owners have been very cooperative and very patient,” added Tesreau.
Each year the city selects sidewalk areas to be upgraded and officials try to spread improvements around town as much as possible. But since there is only a certain amount allocated in the budget and there are hundreds of miles of sidewalks in town, it is impossible to get to them all in one year.
“Including this project, we will have done over 900,000 square feet of sidewalk and/or curb and gutter replacement over the last 14 years in the City of Rochelle, which is quite an accomplishment,” Tesreau said.