A renovation project set to take place by the end of this year at Krause Memorial Library in Rockford is bringing concerns for some residents in the area.
Back in November, residents in the city voted to approve the library expansion millage, which will help nearly double the buildings current footprint.
The additions would include a new courtyard, a drive-up book drop-off, as well as an additional 20 parking spots.
But the expansion and needed room could potentially lead to the closure of Monroe street between Bridge and Maple streets in the city.
The potential closure has residents asking questions about the plans at Wednesday evenings town hall meeting.
The city addressing many of the concerns from residents, like potential uptick in traffic to residential areas, need for parking, and creating safer streets for the community.
“We did the special needs analysis for it, we identified several residents, pedestrians, kids, specifically that enter the library through the middle of the street” said Thad Beard, city manager of Rockford. “We’ve seen excessive speeds from people coming through the downtown area, and so it came up as a safety issue.”
Many residents attended Wednesday nights townhall meeting to discuss their worries about the closure and what it could mean in their neighborhoods.
“I think those are the things you have to look at,” said Neil Blakeslee, a lifelong Rockford Resident. “Obviously, people who are going to have more traffic in their quiet neighborhoods”
A traffic analysis was conducted by Progressive Companies, an architecture and design firm, testing data of the roads at their busiest times in October 2024.
Officials with the company don’t anticipate any drastic changes to the neighborhoods.
“We found minimal impacts to traffic throughout town, throughout our study area, increases a delay of few seconds per intersection.” Said Joe Eberly, transportation engineer for Progressive Companies. “We tried to model a worst-case scenario, and even with that worst case scenario, the increase in delay doesn't seem significant.”
The library expansion project is expected to begin in November of 2025 with completion planned by the end of 2026.
The city will listen continue here feedback from before making a decision.
Bids on the project are expected to within the coming weeks.
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