Although the Heart of Peoria Commission is currently slated to receive no funding in the city’s proposed 2008 capital budget, that doesn’t mean the Heart of Peoria area is getting no funding for projects.

City Manager Randy Oliver sent me this breakdown of the funding that is currently proposed:

The Heart of Peoria area is proposed to receive a significant amount of the City’s proposed 2008 CIP non-discretionary resources. The major initiatives are:

• Sheridan Road Triangle – $285,000
• Warehouse District Infrastructure (Roads) – $1,000,000
• Wisconsin Business Improvement District – $100,000
• ML King Opportunity Acquisition – $100,000
• Main Street Traffic Study – $35,000
• Downtown Improvements – $200,000
• Water Street – Hamilton to Washington – $1,000,000 (total funding $2 million balance from the State)
• Center University of Illinois Medical School Campus – $2,000,000

This does not include Sidewalks in Need of Repair (SINR) or Special Assessment projects.

Although all these projects are in the HOP area, they are not all “Heart of Peoria Plan” projects. The U of I Medical School campus, for example, has nothing to do with the HOP Plan.

A significant amount of money is being put toward the Warehouse District, however, and that’s a good thing. Development of this project, though, is largely dependent on getting IDOT to go along with the vision and allow the city to make the kinds of street improvements needed to make it a viable mixed-use area. As Gary Sandberg recently pointed out, no one is going to want to live down there as long as the traffic is hostile to pedestrians.

I’m not sure what some of these projects are. Even after looking at the proposed budget on the city’s website, I can’t figure out what the $200,000 in “downtown improvements” is set aside to provide. I may have just missed the explanatory document requesting this funding — the budget is over 300 pages and it’s easy to overlook things.

UPDATE: Here’s what Mr. Oliver had to say about the “Downtown Improvements” funds:

Theses funds are a continuation of the funding for improvements to Water Street behind the Museum/CAT from a prior year project. A CIP sheet should have been included.

These improvements are required to be completed under a Development Agreement when the Museum/CAT Experience is completed. The improvement provides for a continuation of the street scape, diagonal parking on the Museum side of the block and elevating the street above the 100 year flood plain.