Politics & Government

Route 47 Project Prompts Small Business Protection Legislation

State Rep. Kay Hatcher is pushing a bill that would lessen the impact of state construction projects on small business owners.

The toll a major road construction project can take on local small businesses can be huge.

It’s no secret many mom and pops have had to close up shop as the latest multi-million dollar project rolls through town.

With that in mind, State Rep. Kay Hatcher, R-Yorkville, has advanced House Bill 2382 that requires the Illinois Department of Transportation to work with local business owners to lessen a project's impact before the first shovel hits the ground.

Find out what's happening in Yorkvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The disruption to local businesses created by the recent improvement work at Routes 47 and 64 really highlighted the need for some new guidelines." Representative Hatcher said. “... There’s no question that road repair and improvements are necessary especially in a growing area like ours; but we certainly need to take into account the disruption that will create for local businesses and do everything we can to minimize the impact.”

The bill made its way through the State House last week and will advanced to the State Senate soon.

Find out what's happening in Yorkvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hatcher said some of the specific steps to help local businesses include “clearly marked detour routing, and the posting of signs letting potential customers know that the road is still open to limited local traffic”

“This lets customers know that despite the construction, they can still get to their favorite local business,” Hatcher said.


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