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Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
KEEP IT LOCAL • MARKETPLACE, A6
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DeKalb’s Sunshine Scoop promotes other local eateries
Kaneland victory leaves Barbs still winless in conference
Josh Snead
Plans would boost Metra access County residents would get park-and-ride service to station in Elburn TAILS Humane Society and the DeKalb County Highway Department facility. It would replace the 13,000 square-foot building TransVAC currently uses on Bethany Road, which a 2010 study deemed inadequate for TransVAC’s operations. Current TransVAC Green Line and Blue Line buses run Monday through Friday in DeKalb and Sycamore, respectively. TransVAC also operates a bus line with service to Kishwaukee Community College. The main focus of the new depot would be storage and maintenance of TransVAC’s bus fleet. It also would in-
By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com Daily shuttle bus service from DeKalb to the Metra station in Elburn is in the works as area transportation officials plan a new $17 million bus depot. Officials with the Voluntary Action Center, which operates three bus lines and paratransit buses in DeKalb County, plan to build an 80,000 square-foot transportation hub on Barber Greene Road to house their transportation arm, TransVAC. The new facility will be built on land DeKalb County officials donated between
park-and-ride,” Zucker said. “But I would expect within one year of operating that parking lot would be about two-thirds full.” DeKalb-area residents already have access to a shuttle service that runs on a more limited basis. The Huskie Bus line operates a shuttle service to and from the Elburn Metra station on Fridays and Sundays. Box office employee Mitchell Dunigan said more than 80 people use the service weekly. Zucker said officials also were considering a shuttle that would have run to the Amtrak stop in Genoa before Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this
clude administrative offices and a parking lot large enough to accommodate new park-and-ride service. “There’s certainly significant interest in the service,” VAC Executive Director Tom Zucker said. About 100 parking spots would be available for commuters to take a shuttle bus to the Metra station in Elburn, Zucker said. Although officials have yet to work out the exact details, they expect to run the service to the station daily, with the nearly 19mile one-way bus trip costing about $5. “It’s difficult to predict how many people would use
month announced the passenger rail service between Rockford and Chicago would stop in Elgin, Huntley and Belvidere instead. “I think it just solidifies the demand to go to Elburn,” Zucker said. VAC officials are working with DeKalb County and the DeKalb Sycamore Area Transportation Study, the organization that oversees transportation projects. So far, they have secured about $5.5 million between city and county money. “The transportation system they’re already providing is extremely valuable,” County Administrator Gary
Hanson said. “I think VAC really needs that new facility.” Zucker said the facility could open in late 2015 or early 2016 at the earliest. However, some aspects of the project, including the parkand-ride, would be delayed two to three years if officials don’t receive a $12 million to $14 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant. Zucker said a grant announcement is expected in about three months, which is when construction would start. If denied, they would pursue other grant opportunities, Zucker said.
Ready to sprout orange
32K-plus run Boston Marathon Huge turnout is determined defiant By JIMMY GOLEN The Associated Press BOSTON – Some ran to honor the dead and wounded. Others were out to prove something to the world about their sport, the city or their country. And some wanted to prove something to themselves. With the names of the victims scrawled on their bodies or their race bibs, more than 32,000 people ran in the Boston Marathon on Monday in a powerful show of defiance a year after the deadly bombing. “We’re marathon runners. We know how to endure,” said Dennis Murray, a 62-year-old health care administrator from Atlanta who finished just before the explosions last year and came back to run again. “When they try to take our freedom and our democracy, we come back stronger.” The two pressure cooker bombs that went off near the end of the 26.2-mile course last year killed three people and wounded more than 260 in a spectacle of torn limbs, acrid smoke and broken glass. But the city vowed to return even stronger, and the victory by Meb Keflezighi – the first American in 31 years to win the men’s race – helped deliver on that promise. On Twitter, President Barack Obama congratulated Keflezighi and Shalane Flanagan, the top American finisher among the women, “for making America proud!” “All of today’s runners showed the world the meaning of #BostonStrong,” Obama wrote. The race was held under extraordinary security, including 100 new surveillance cameras, more than 90 bomb-sniffing dogs and officers posted on roofs. As runners continued to drag themselves across the finish line in the late afternoon, more than six hours into the race, state emergency officials reported no security threats other
See BOSTON, page A5
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Excavator operator Alex Polanatie, of Copenhaver Construction, moves dirt at the Five Points Road bridge project work site Monday in Kingston. Copenhaver Construction, out of Gilberts, was contracted by DeKalb County to replace the bridge. The project is expected to be completed in September.
Construction season to hit DeKalb County roads By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com DeKALB – After a particularly harsh winter, DeKalb County residents are just a week or so away from the area’s second major season: Construction season. “Contractors haven’t started construction yet, but in a couple of weeks, you’re going to start seeing orange signs up soon,” DeKalb County Engineer Nathan Schwartz said. This year’s list of projects includes millions of dollars in funding from state and federal government and tackles both bridges and potholes. Construction season typically starts May 1, so here’s a list of some projects to watch for in the coming months:
Voice your opinion Would you use a Metra Park and Ride lot in DeKalb that provides a shuttle to the Elburn train station? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com.
FIVE POINTS BRIDGE The DeKalb County Highway Department currently has one big project in the works: the $2.5 million replacement of Five Points Bridge in Kingston. Copenhaver Construction of Gilberts began working on the bridge in the fall, and crews hope to finish the job and open the bridge by the end of the summer, Schwartz said.
See ROADS, page A5
DeKalb County road maintenance workers Jim English (left) and Mike Keef work April 16 to remove the bottom of a wooden post from a stop sign that was knocked over during winter in the intersection of Country Farm and Peace Road.
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