The state has announced a $5 million grant for the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District [BNWRD] that is intended to stimulate business development on the Twin Cities' west side.
The funding for the Northwest Interceptor Project through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is part of a second $30 million package of awards in the Regional Site Readiness Program, designed to create project-ready sites prime for industrial development.
“Winning large-scale, generational projects requires an economic development strategy that balances short-term adaptability and long-term growth, and that's what Illinois is doing with the Regional Site Readiness Program,” said Christy George, president and CEO of the Illinois Economic Development Corporation.
George said it simplifies and accelerates site selection for businesses and decision makers.
“By expanding the number of Illinois properties ready for development, we’re setting the stage for long-term economic growth, revitalization, and opportunities for the entire state,” said Gov. JB Pritzker.
The BNWRD project includes the installation of about two miles of large diameter [36 and 48 inches] sewer pipe along the west side of the Bloomington–Normal I-55/I-74 corridor, said a project description.
The “award will greatly benefit Central Illinois, and the other awardees across Illinois' Economic Development Regions will create economic opportunity in our communities,” said State Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington.
Sewer interceptors collect wastewater from city- and town-owned sewer lines and convey the sewage to a wastewater treatment facility.
“The initial phase will establish sewer service capability for the development of approximately 5,000 acres of farmland, positioning the area for future residential, commercial, and industrial development,” said BNWRD.
The project will cost $7.5 million and could be finished in 2029. The interceptor will begin at BNWRD.s West Wastewater Treatment Plant on West Oakland Avenue in Bloomington and end at College Avenue in Normal. It will offer an additional 18.6 million gallons per day of sewage wastewater capacity on the west side.
That’s just the first phase of a larger $15 million project that eventually will be extended to the Brandt Industries Agricultural Facility near Interstate 39.
“While the municipalities have expanded sewer collection systems to serve residential, commercial, and industrial areas in west Bloomington and Normal, no new interceptor sewers conveying raw sewage to the wastewater treatment plant have been constructed since the 1960s,” said BNWRD.
The last major municipal interceptor project was in the early 2000s along Veterans Parkway on the Twin Cities' east side.
"The district is grateful to the Governor’s Office, the State of Illinois DCEO, local officials — including Sen. [Dave] Koehler, Sen. [Chris] Balkema, Sen. [Sally] Turner, and Representatives Chung and [Ryan] Deering — and our community partners for this investment. This support enables the project to move forward while protecting public health and the natural ecosystems of McLean County and ensuring adequate sewage conveyance to support current and future economic development over the next 25 to 50 years," said BNWRD.
The district said it is making other efforts to put in underground infrastructure to ensure adequate capacity to move future wastewater flows to the treatment plant.
“The entire project [including two more hoped-for phases] will permit the development of more than 20,000 acres of farmland over the next 100 years,” said BNWRD Executive Director Tim Ervin.
The state deadline for communities to apply for another round of grants is in late April.
