The East Lincoln Highway Task Force Committee discussed Wednesday the first steps toward revitalizing DeKalb’s main drag.

“We’re going to start by doing landscaped islands in various parts of the highway,” said Greg Flisram, design consultant from Vandewalle & Associates.

Among improvements to the highway is an idea to implement the history of DeKalb along Lincoln Highway by building an arch at the entrance of the Lincoln Highway corridor.

“For many decades, the East Lincoln Highway corridor was a thriving center for commercial and industrial activity,” said Paul Rasmussen, community development director for DeKalb. “Since the 1960s, the corridor has been in slow decline and has become a detriment to the surrounding neighborhoods.”

Suggestions for an archway to improve the visual appearance were made.

“We want to give it sort of an urban-rural edge,” Filsram said. “The arch wouldn’t span across the highway, but we want the arch to be sort of an entry feature that is visible from different angles.”

Though the idea to improve the highway was delayed for almost a decade because of financial restrictions, the committee is now ready to begin the process.

“We were pressured to do a plan for about 10 years,” said Russ Farnum, principal planner of community development for DeKalb. “Due to a change in priorities, it never really got to the point where we started it.”

The committee also wants the community to know it is serious about the plan to revitalize the corridor and has already received funding to begin the project.

The proposal to improve the corridor was given priority when the committee received a $695,000 grant for economic development from the federal government. The improvements will be made using other government grants as well.