The City Council will act on several matters tonight, including the Mill Street underpass and the restoration of the Old Illinois Central Railroad Depot, the first of which is among the biggest projects the city is working on, city officials say.

In an attempt to speed the land acquisition process for the Mill Street underpass, council members will decide whether to hire an additional appraiser. City manager Jeff Doherty said there were plans to have only one appraiser determining the values of several pieces of land the city will have to purchase before construction of the $6.1 million project begins.

He said having two appraisers would make the acquisition quicker, without extra expense.

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Doherty said he hopes the 18 to 24 month construction phase of the underpass will start next fall.

Once completed, the underpass will allow traffic to flow under the railroad tracks near Mill Street when a train is going through town. City officials have said this will ease traffic congestion and help emergency vehicles from being slowed down by trains.

The city will also award a contract for the interior restoration of the former Illinois Central Railroad Passenger Depot on Illinois Avenue. Doherty said he expects Robert L. Morgan Builders to get the job. The Murphyboro firm’s $454,000 bid beat out two other bids of $476,000 and $491,000.

The renovations will restore the building to the way it was in the 1930s, Doherty said. Once restoration is complete, he said the city will nominate the building to the National Register of Historic Places. Doherty said the interior restoration must be completed before the site can be considered being added to the register.

He said the city plans to house an office for the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau and eventually a visitor’s center and conference room in the depot after Morgan finishes work sometime next summer.

Before the meeting, Council members acting as the Liquor Control Commission will meet with management from Detours, 760 E. Grand Ave., and Sidetracks, 101 W. College, to discuss what commissioners said were high numbers of alcohol related arrests at those two establishments during July, August and September.

Sidetracks had 50 and Detours had 33 arrests on their premises during this time.

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The Liquor Commission voted unanimously last month to have management from the two bars come before the commission to explain the high arrest numbers.

The only other bars with over 10 arrests during this time were Gatsby’s II, 610 Illinois Ave., with 21 and Stix Bar and Billiards, 517 S. Illinois Ave., with 14 arrests.