•November 11, 2015•

By Derek Pope
For the News Progress

Bethany residents may notice some changes as they drive through town this fall thanks to funding from Moultrie County and the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency. Over the past few months, village workers have replaced nearly 150 traffic signs throughout the village as part of a Federal Highway Administration mandate that went into effect this year.

The project, which consisted of installing new posts, signs made of modern highly reflective materials, and the removal of some old traffic signs that did not meet previously existing federal regulations, started back in July and was finished November 6. All of the materials were purchased by Moultrie County’s governing body and distributed to Bethany, though village labor was required to set up the new signage.

As part of the federal mandate, Bethany was required to have all the new signs in place by November 30 of this year. Similarly by 2018, all street signs will need to be replaced in order to posses the same “retroreflectivity” as the town’s new traffic signs.

Bethany’s utilities department also got the go ahead to change out 22 streetlights in the village’s downtown district with new LED lighting in the coming months, in part by using funds given to the village by the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA). Through the IMEA’s Electric Efficiency Program, cumulative funds are granted each year to be used by affiliated municipalities, as the town sees fit, in projects that will reduce overall public electricity use.      Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.