After thee years of planning and a year and a half of construction, North Raney Street in Effingham is open once again to through traffic. The three stage project came to close and the road was opened early Thursday morning. City officials gathered to commemorate the opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the corner of N. Raney and Cliffview. The first stage consisted of tree removal, filling in two major dips in the road, installing new storm culverts, and extending the sanitary sewer. The second stage included a long 832 foot stretch of concrete, complete with sidewalks. The third, and final, stage included the pouring of asphalt on the rural section of the road. According to City Engineer Jeremy Heuerman, the $1,844,000 project had several unique challenges along the way.
N. Raney was in serious condition for some time, however other projects kept coming up that prevented the city from addressing those issues. According to Director of Public Works Steve Miller, the project has been on the city’s to-do list for a while.
The project involved cooperation from several different parties including the city team, area residents, and the contractors. City Building Official Michelle Wilkins said it felt good to see the project to completion. “I like building nice roads,” said Wilkins.