D'Arcy Has Lofty Plans For Several Gateways Into Joliet For 2024

JOLIET —One year after taking office as the new mayor of Joliet, Joliet businessman Terry D'Arcy said he is ready to move forward with his campaign plans for improving the entrances and gateways into Joliet, the third-largest city in Illinois.

During last week's interview at City Hall to discuss his first year as mayor and his plans for 2024, Joliet Patch asked D'Arcy to explain where things stand for his citywide beautification efforts and improving the overall appearance of Joliet, particularly along several of the main thoroughfares leading into the city along the Historic Route 66 corridor.

Joliet Patch: "When you ran your campaign last year, Terry, one point that you stressed in the community is that the city has got a hodgepodge of different entrances, a couple look nice and several look not so nice, and others, you wouldn't even know you were entering Joliet. What's kind of your thoughts on moving forward, then?"

Mayor D'Arcy: "That was a key theme in the original campaign, so I got with Greg Ruddy of Public Works, and he identified the high volume entrances into our community, and I want to say there's eight of them and there's probably three or four not so high volume. And we had a landscape architect draw new plans to really make those things pop when you drive into our community. We're going to plant native grasses, but we're also going to have perennials and annuals so that when you come in, it's going to be colorful. It's going to be vibrant.

"And I've looked at the plans, we've gone through them, and the plantings are going to start to begin now. We budgeted more money for it because you only get one chance at a first impression, so we're highly involved in making sure that when you come into Joliet, we look ready and so Greg's done a great job with his team, and we're going to kick that off now. We budgeted for it."

Patch asked D'Arcy if residents can expect to see the new flowers and plantings start to happen in May.

"Yes," D'Arcy responded. "And another thing, we're planting 900 trees this year, so things are really going in the right direction."

Related Joliet Patch coverage of Mayor D'Arcy's first year in office:

Mayor D'Arcy Talks Bo Dome, Truck Traffic, Repairing Relationships

Terry D'Arcy's First Year As Mayor Of Joliet: How Did It Go?

New Joliet Railroad Museum, Here's How It Looks: Photo Gallery

Bill Murray, Veecks To Make Joliet Slammers Summer's Hottest Ticket