The Urbana City Council on July 28 endorsed the KUATS Lincoln Avenue Corridor Study, a corridor safety and redesign plan that recommends a road diet, on‑street bike lanes, relocated midblock pedestrian crossings with pedestrian‑activated signals, and targeted access restrictions. The council’s endorsement clears the way for staff to pursue design and possible grant funding.

City staff and consultants emphasized the safety rationale for the recommendations. Staff cited crash records showing a concentration of midblock crashes and serious injuries between Nevada and Indiana streets: that segment accounted for 54% of midblock crashes and 78% of pedestrian/bicycle crashes within the corridor in the period examined. The report estimated that implementing the full suite of recommendations could reduce overall crashes corridor‑wide by 56–68%.

Funding implications were central to the council discussion. Florenceworth Group, the city’s grants consultant, told the council that state and federal funders commonly require a municipal resolution demonstrating council support for a project when reviewing grant applications. Staff warned that because the study was funded by an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) grant and because IDOT would be a likely construction funder, disregarding the study’s recommendations could imperil future IDOT funding for the project.

Council members asked technical and procedural questions during the presentation. Council member Mary Alice Wu asked how strictly the city would have to adhere to the study’s exact locations for crossings and bus stops to remain eligible for IDOT funding; staff and consultants said some adjustments during design are expected, but substantial departures from the study’s intent or core safety elements could jeopardize grant awards. Council member Chris Colasetti asked whether declining to adopt the study recommendations later would likewise threaten funding; staff said any later changes would need to be justified to the funding agency and might require re‑approval.

Several neighborhood residents and council members urged piloting temporary changes before any permanent construction to observe traffic responses. Staff said design phase work would include public engagement and that permanent modifications would require separate council ordinances before changes such as access restrictions or one‑way conversions could be implemented.

On the roll call, the resolution to endorse the study passed (Council member Wu: no; Evans: no; Hersey: yes; Colasetti: yes; Bishop: yes; Wilkin: yes; Quisenberry: yes). Staff said endorsement allows applications for grant funding and continued design work, and that any actual roadway changes would return to council as ordinances.