URBANA – The estimated $30 million Olympian Drive project will proceed, but without the need for an immediate vote by the Champaign County Board, county board Democrats learned Tuesday.

The city councils of Urbana and Champaign will vote on an intergovernmental agreement for the project in early April, Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing told the Democrats. And that's all that is needed to meet the state's requirements to claim $5 million that has been set aside for engineering and design for the project route north of the two cities, said county engineer Jeff Blue.

In the meantime, Prussing said, Urbana will begin an "educational campaign" to point out the need for Olympian Drive, which would run from Interstate 57 to U.S. 45, including a bridge over the Canadian National Railroad tracks. The campaign will include at least a Web site and public meetings, she said.

"Urbana is taking the time to engage in a public dialogue so people will understand why the cities support Olympian Drive and why it matters to the county board as well," Prussing said. "We will listen to everyone and deal with their concerns."

Blue said it's time "to step back and look at all the different possibilities and different scenarios" for the project that has generated opposition among landowners north of the cities and among others concerned about the loss of hundreds of acres of farmland.

"It's our plan to make every effort possible to meet with the public and mitigate their concerns," he said.

He said the design and engineering phase of the project could take 12 to 18 months, meaning it might not be until next year that a county board vote is needed on the project.

County board Chair C. Pius Weibel said the county board would not vote on the project in April, as had been planned.

"I see no reason to have it on the agenda," he said. "It would be a fake vote and I don't like symbolic votes."

The Olympian Drive project received a setback last week when U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, announced that he would abide by a House Republican ban on inserting earmarks in next year's federal budget. Local officials had investigated the possibility of using congressional earmarks to come up with the estimated $8 million in federal money to complete funding for the project.