Maintenance to the Lincoln Parking Garage, 101 E. Front St., is the top construction project for the city of Bloomington to be completed this fall.

While spring’s thaw traditionally is viewed as the time when orange barrels and cones begin dotting the roadway, the reality is construction season has become a nearly year-round activity, with work halting only during the really rough and tumble winter months.

Across central Illinois, a number of municipalities are sneaking in one last round of infrastructure improvement projects before autumn gives way to winter.

As the region’s largest community, it might not come as a surprise that Bloomington has the most extensive list of projects on tap for the rest of 2015.

While many of the construction projects throughout the region are road-related, Bloomington’s most extensive endeavor this fall is linked to a widely used municipal parking structure in the city’s downtown area.

Since Aug. 31, construction crews have done maintenance on the Lincoln Parking Garage, 101 E. Front St. Jim Karch, Bloomington public works director, said the project is expected to last three months, meaning it will wrap late in the season.

Karch, who cautioned users of the garage should exercise caution when driving through it, said, “Some work areas — including parking stalls, ramps, doorways and stairwells — will be closed at different times during this project.”

Across the region, many of the projects are focused on roadwork for specific streets. In some cases, the roadwork has been taking place throughout much of this construction season, though a few of the lighter projects are just getting underway and are the last in a series of line items in this year’s municipal budgets.

In Bloomington, most of the roadwork has been completed for the season, though work continues in the autumn on five streets that started late in the summer, including:

• Bissell Street, from Low Street to Koch Street
• Clayton Street, from Washington Street to Douglas Street
• Lincoln Street, from Koch Street to Madison Street
• Market Street, from East Street to Robinson Street
• Alleyways east of Oak Street, from Bissell Street to the southern end

Additionally, the city on Sept. 28 began construction work along Catherine Street, from Market Street to Monroe Street.

Elsewhere across the heartland, the town of Normal is in the midst of a brief road construction project that is expected to wrap by mid-October. Henry Street, from Shelbourne Drive to Lismore Lane, is the impacted area.

“Northbound Henry traffic will be routed east on Lismore Lane to Dublin Drive,” said Wayne Aldrich, public works director.. “This road closure is for concrete pavement replacement. Local traffic access will be maintained.”

Elsewhere, in the city of Pekin, an extensive, season-long construction project along Veterans Drive is in its final stages.

Most of the work along one of Pekin’s major thoroughfares has already been completed, but the final phase will mean a continuation of closures. Through the next few months, Veterans Drive, from Towerline Road to 14th Street, will be closed to through traffic.

While the road closure will continue to impact traffic, Pekin officials said traffic along Veterans Drive, from 14th Street to 5th Street, will remain open throughout the duration of the construction project.

—  Construction projects planned this fall across McLean County —