The new Lincoln Highway designed to make downtown DeKalb more pedestrian friendly is now fully open to traffic.
Construction barriers on Lincoln Highway between First and Fourth Street were removed Aug. 19 following re-striping, which restored on-street parking to both sides of the roadway.
The overall project is nearly complete. Work continues to finish returning the brick pavers to the north sidewalk. New storm catch basins have not yet been delivered due to supply chain delays but are scheduled to be installed next month.
Narrowing Lincoln Highway from four lanes to three lanes, including a center turning lane, will calm truck traffic through the downtown, making it more inviting to pedestrians. The fourth lane has been replaced by five feet of sidewalk space on each side of the road. An added benefit of this additional space is that it can be used by the downtown businesses and restaurants for sidewalk sales and outdoor dining.
The City of DeKalb would like to thank the downtown visitors and motorists for their patience during construction. We also extend a special thank you to the downtown merchants who worked cooperatively with the City and construction crews and remained opened throughout the project.
The narrowed and repaved Lincoln Highway along with the expanded sidewalks can be seen in this drone video.