Freeport leaders outline $4M+ capital plan focused on roads, water, wastewater, airport and public‑safety upgrades

City Manager Boyer presented the City of Freeport’s proposed 2026 capital improvement plan, laying out a multi‑year slate of road, water, wastewater, airport and public‑safety projects and the funding sources that would support them.

Boyer told the council the Hancock “Bridal” Deck and an associated viaduct are among the plan’s largest near‑term priorities, saying the guardrail and bridge deck “need to be replaced” and that viaduct work was delayed by permit reviews and utility coordination. He said the viaduct is in the five‑year plan and that bridge work would follow completion of that project.

The plan includes recurring street maintenance funded by a 1% transportation sales tax (exempting food, medicine and medical equipment) and local projects such as a mill‑and‑overlay of the municipal parking lot. Several multi‑year street projects were highlighted: Walnut (South to Empire), Stevenson (Locust to Sunset), Lincoln (Locust to West), and a South Street program Boyer estimated at between $4 million and $7 million in total; many of those projects rely in part on IDOT STU funding or other outside funds.

On sidewalks, Boyer said a south/west sidewalk project with ADA ramps is reflected in the plan and listed as funded by a HISP grant of $2,400,000 (as…