CARBONDALE, Ill. (WSIL) -- A transportation hub that will serve Illlinois' southernmost 30 counties is set to begin construction this summer in Jackson County.
The city of Carbondale began demolishing the old Carbondale Cycle building on Illinois Avenue & Walnut Street over the weekend. On Tuesday, crews were still cleaning the debris at the site.
Once cleanup is complete the city will set a groundbreaking date for the Southern Illinois Multimodal Station before construction begins June 1 according to city manager Gary Williams.
Williams says the project will cost $23 million and federal grants are covering $21 million. The city will chip in $2 million out of its own pocket.
Williams says the hub will house services for transportation agencies across southern Illinois including Rides Mass Transit District.
"In the past, those transit agencies operated ad hoc system, where they transfer riders from one services to the other," Williams said. [The hub] will allow them to really start thinking about fixed route service within the greater region."
The project is estimated to last 18 months with the goal to open by 2025. After the project is complete Williams says the city will tear down the Amtrak station that was built in 1970.
Transportation is the hub's main service but Williams says there will be opportunities for people to grow their job skills.
"Space has been allocated in the building to Man-Tra-Con so we'll have some workforce education opportunities as well," Williams said.
"I've been staring at that building since 1981," Doug McDonald, owner of Phoenix Cycles, said. McDonald watched his competitor from across the street for 40 years.
Today he saw a mostly empty space covered with debris, construction equipment and a view of the apartment complex down the street.
"I did watch them tear down all the businesses across the street to build city hall," McDonald said. "I've seen a lot of landscape change down here."
McDonald worries that parking could become an issue once the hub is built. Williams said the project will eliminate some parking but says the city has plenty of it.
McDonald suggested that the city do away with parking meters and making parking free. The city experimented with free parking in 2019 to get more people to come out but Williams said there was less foot-traffic than expected.
Williams says it's up to the city council to decide if free parking will return.
"Parking is going to move farther away from us," McDonald said. "Why charge people to park in downtown?"
