Marshall Seeks ITEP Funding for IL Route 1 Multi-Use Path

Marshall City Council | September 14, 2026

Article Summary: The Marshall City Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2026-R-22 on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, supporting an Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant application for bicycle and pedestrian facilities and crosswalk improvements on IL Route 1 between Trefz Drive and IL Route 40, and committing the city to pay any required match and any ineligible costs.

ITEP Grant Application Key Points:

The project would build bicycle and pedestrian facilities with crosswalk improvements on IL Route 1 between Trefz Drive and IL Route 40, plus Trefz Drive crossing IL Route 1.

An ITEP grant would fund 80 percent of eligible preliminary engineering, design, construction and construction engineering costs, and 50 percent of right-of-way and street lighting costs.

The city commits in Section 2 to be responsible for any required matching funds and any ineligible or other costs as determined by the Illinois Department of Transportation. No cost estimate for the project appears anywhere in the meeting materials.

The agenda scheduled a separate public meeting on the grant application for 6:15 p.m., ahead of the 6:30 p.m. regular meeting. The minutes contain no record of that public meeting.

MARSHALL — The Marshall City Council on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, voted unanimously to back the city’s application for a state transportation enhancement grant that would pay most of the cost of a bicycle and pedestrian route along IL Route 1 on the city’s edge.

Alderman Warren LeFever moved to adopt Resolution 2026-R-22, a resolution in support of an Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant application for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Alderman Foster Propst seconded. Upon roll call, all council members voted in favor and the motion carried.

The resolution describes the project as the construction of bicycle and pedestrian facilities with crosswalk improvements on IL Route 1 between Trefz Drive and IL Route 40, and Trefz Drive crossing IL Route 1 — work the resolution says is intended “to complete the network in this area and enhance non-motorized transportation along the IL Route 1 Road corridor.”

The agenda describes the same work in slightly different terms for the purposes of the public meeting: “the IL route 1 Multi-Use Path from Trefz Drive to Route 40 Intersection. Trefz Drive from the west side to the east side of Route 1.”

How the Funding Would Split

The resolution sets out the program’s cost-sharing structure in a single recital. An ITEP grant “will fund 80% of eligible preliminary engineering, design, construction, and construction engineering costs and 50% of right-of-way and street lighting costs of the proposed improvements.”

Section 2 of the resolution carries the city’s commitment: “The City of Marshall does hereby commit to being responsible for payment of any required matching funds and/or ineligible or other costs associated with the Project as determined by Illinois Department of Transportation.” The resolution identifies the Illinois Department of Transportation as the agency that makes those determinations.

What that commitment will cost Marshall cannot be determined from the meeting materials. No engineer’s estimate, construction estimate, path length, right-of-way acreage or street lighting figure appears in the agenda, the resolution or any exhibit. The city’s share of an 80-20 split on eligible costs and a 50-50 split on right-of-way and lighting is therefore an open number at the point the council voted to commit to it.

Tied to the 2022 Comprehensive Plan

The resolution grounds the project in prior planning work, reciting that the city “has participated in the 2022 Comprehensive Plan, and has determined that the Project is consistent with the strategic priorities identified in the plan.” The plan itself is not reproduced in the packet, and the resolution does not identify which strategic priorities the project is said to advance.

Public Meeting Not Reflected in the Minutes

The printed agenda set out a separate public meeting before the regular session, with its own four-item order of business: call to order at 6:15 p.m.; open public meeting for the ITEP grant, including a description of the proposed project; public comment on the application and project; and adjourn.

The minutes supplied for Sept. 14 begin with the regular meeting’s call to order at 6:30 p.m. They contain no record of the 6:15 p.m. public meeting — no attendance, no description of the presentation, and no indication whether any member of the public spoke on the application. Whether a separate record of that session exists is not established by the materials reviewed.

The resolution states that it takes full force and effect from and after its passage and approval. The copy in the packet is signed-blank: it carries blank lines for ayes, nays, abstentions and absences, a blank date in September 2026, and unexecuted signature lines for John Hasten, mayor, and Elizabeth Richey, city clerk. The resolution number 2026-R-22 and the unanimous roll call come from the minutes.

The ITEP item was the second of two legislative actions at a meeting that otherwise consisted almost entirely of payment approvals. It was the only item on the agenda that came with a scheduled public hearing.