Getting Through Uptown Normal on Constitution Trail While the Underpass Gets Built

Since September 21, Constitution Trail users in Uptown Normal have been sent around a construction zone, and that will be true for a long time. The Town of Normal says the Constitution Trail detour and the closed Parkinson Street lot will remain in place until the Uptown Station underpass is complete. The town's target for that is June 2028, roughly 20 months from now. So the trail's path through Uptown is now Phoenix, Broadway and Beaufort. And the most visible work is only starting: in November it moves to the plaza next to the Amtrak platforms.

The Route, Turn by Turn

The Town of Normal's September 14 notice lays out a signed detour for trail users heading north through Uptown:

1. Leave the trail at the Phoenix Avenue intersection and head west on Phoenix.
2. Turn north on Broadway Avenue.
3. Pick up the north sidewalk of Beaufort Street and follow it east.
4. Continue to Uptown Circle, then rejoin the trail at the trailhead north of the Circle.

Heading south, you run the same route in reverse. The notice also says the trail was closed north of Vernon Avenue so crews could install a sidewalk for the detour, and once the trail reopened it would be detoured at Phoenix until construction is complete.

The same town notice spells out how existing Uptown ordinances apply along the detour. It says cyclists who ride in the street should follow existing traffic patterns up Beaufort and around Uptown Circle, cyclists who use the sidewalk must dismount and walk their bikes through Uptown, and pedestrians should use the north side of Beaufort. In practice, that gives anyone on a bike two choices: ride in Uptown traffic or walk. A commuter who used to coast straight through on the trail should plan for that.

A coffee stop now sits right on the route. The Coffeehouse & Deli at 114 E. Beaufort St. is open daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Why the Detour Isn't Going Anywhere Soon

The detour lasts so long because of what's being built. The underpass is a pedestrian and bicycle route under the Union Pacific tracks at Uptown Station. It will connect Amtrak's north and south platforms and link Uptown North with Uptown South. The town points to train volume, train speed and stopped trains at the Linden and Broadway crossings as safety concerns. It also expects the tunnel to connect the business district with eight acres south of the tracks for development and public gathering space.

A tunnel under an active rail line gets built in stages, and the trail stays rerouted for every one of them. Here's the sequence based on the Pantagraph's reporting on the first phase and WGLT's May coverage:

According to the Pantagraph, the winter pumping station will help dewater and drain the site before the tunnel is dug, and Normal City Manager Pam Reece said winter weather could affect the work. Six months after the detour went up, then, the actual tunnel still won't have been started.

The grant deadline comes nine months before the completion target. WGLT reported in May that the deadline applies to spending the grant money, not to finishing the whole project. Public Works Director Ryan Otto told the Pantagraph the current schedule is expected to meet it.

November Moves the Work to the Station Side

So far, most of the visible work has been south of the tracks, around the police station and the old Parkinson lot. That changes next month. The Pantagraph reported that the plaza between the Children's Discovery Museum and Uptown Station is expected to close for demolition and site prep starting in November. The work includes temporarily removing the canopy over the north Union Pacific platform.

That plaza is the open space between two of Uptown's busiest destinations. The town hasn't published exact November dates yet, or directions for reaching the platforms and the museum once the plaza closes. Reece told the Pantagraph the town will keep working with Uptown businesses to limit disruption and will keep the community informed as construction changes. Updates are posted on the town's Underpass project page, which you can subscribe to.

If you take the train, the station itself is at 11 Uptown Circle, and Amtrak lists waiting-room hours of 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. Losing the north platform canopy over the winter means less cover while you wait for a train outside.

November also brings the Holiday Open House at Uptown Normal shops and restaurants on November 7, according to the town calendar. The town hasn't said whether the plaza work will have started by then.

Where to Park Now That the Parkinson Lot Is a Staging Yard

The Parkinson Street lot off Linden Avenue closed to the public on September 21 and is now fenced off as a construction staging area. Limited public parking is available farther south. Other south-side parking remains open for nearby businesses, the police station and the Parks and Recreation Department.

The town notes that Uptown still has three parking decks, 129 on-street spaces and several surface lots. 25News listed these alternatives:

• Uptown Station Deck, 122 W. Beaufort St.
• Beaufort Street Deck, 201 W. Beaufort St.
• College Avenue Deck, 101 W. Mulberry St.
• The Town Water Department lot off Mulberry, east of the College Avenue deck

The two Beaufort decks sit on the same street the trail detour now follows. If you drive to the trail with a bike on the rack, either one puts you right on the route. Rates and hours are on the town's parking page.

How the Underpass Price Climbed to $42.8 Million

Part of the reason this has dragged out is how long the project took to get built at all. WGLT reported that the cost grew from $10 million to $11 million in 2015 to a total of $42.8 million over a decade of planning. Then in March 2026, WGLT reported that the original contractor had withdrawn, saying it couldn't meet the project's requirements and timeline. In May, the Normal Town Council approved a $33.9 million construction bid from PJ Hoerr, the second bidder.

Uptown residents and visitors have already been paying their part. WGLT reported that the town's share is $14.9 million, with state and federal grants covering most of the rest. The local plan includes $12 million in debt, repaid through a hotel-motel tax increase from 6% to 8% and a food-and-beverage tax increase from 2% to 2.25%, both effective April 1, 2026. Another $2.9 million comes from the general fund. So a coffee bought on Beaufort while walking the detour helps pay for the tunnel that will eventually end it.

The town sees a bigger payoff after the tunnel opens. "We have seen this underpass project as a significant catalyst for redevelopment on the south side of the tracks," Reece told the Pantagraph, adding that the town plans to begin firming up master plans for that area in 2027. The Parkinson lot now full of equipment is part of that south-side land.

Other Trail and Street Work This Fall

The Uptown detour isn't the only change on the trail this fall. On the Illinois Central branch, the town closed Constitution Trail between Locust Street and Cypress Avenue on October 5 to rebuild the Willow Street trail crossing. It sent users to Fell Avenue via Locust and Cypress, and the closure was scheduled to end by 5 p.m. October 19, weather permitting. Nearby, a lane reduction on Vernon Avenue between Beaufort and Linden for water-main work began September 22 and was expected to run until late October, weather permitting, with local access maintained. Both were short jobs on fixed schedules. The Phoenix-Broadway-Beaufort detour is the only one measured in years.

If you're thinking about a home near Uptown or along Constitution Trail and want to know how the underpass work affects your block, your commute or the south side of the tracks over the next few years, The Move Smart Group can walk through it with you. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll lay out the construction timeline next to your own plans.