Two projects are underway to help transportation in Galesburg.
The city held groundbreaking ceremonies this week on a new transit maintenance facility and the upgrades to the Amtrak station.
The projects are being funded with federal and state dollars.
The transit maintenance facility will cost $4.62 million. It will store the city’s buses and vehicles.
The Amtrak upgrades will cost $730,000. The upgrades will consist of enclosing the north and south sides of the building and adding a Burlington Trailways ticket office.
The city has been looking forward to starting the work and Mayor John Pritchard said the projects were worth the wait.
“Whenever you’re trying to coordinate federal, state, and local organizations, it takes time,” Pritchard said. “And of course, we’ve had a significant recession along the way and other things that have happened that weren’t expected or anticipated when the projects were initiated.”
The projects should be completed by September, 2015.
Pritchard said the projects will help raise the city’s profile.
“This’ll make the community a bit more attractive,” Pritchard said. “There’s a number of initiatives all over that we’re dealing with to try and do that.”
Pritchard said the upgrades at the Amtrak station were needed because a growing number of travelers use the depot.
