The purchase by the City Council Monday of right-of-way for two small pieces of property along West Sixth Street should clear the way for a resurfacing project for the street.

Plans have been in the works for years at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to resurface Sixth Street (Route 81) from Lexington Avenue to West Street, and add a bicycle path along the south side of the street.

But state and city officials have said the work has been held up by the difficulty of obtaining right-of-way for the land adjoining the street.

The council Monday approved the purchase of right-of-way for two pieces of property near the Cottage Street intersection. The cost was $3,200 for one of the parcels and $2,350 for the other.

Mayor Gary Moore said that as far as he knows, this completes the purchase of right-of-way for the project. He said IDOT will probably advertise for bids by late summer for contractors for the resurfacing work.

The work probably won’t begin until next year, the mayor said.

Also Monday:

— The council approved the bid of Nanninga Concrete and Excavation to demolish a condemned house at 500 Fifth Ave. for $7,949. That was the lowest of five bids the city received for the job including one from a Chicago-area contractor for nearly $50,000

— Also approved was an agreement with K-Town Realty for reimbursement of $221,161 of the costs the company is incurring in building a car wash behind the Community State Bank building on Tenney Street.