The DuPage County Board approved separate bond issues Tuesday to fund about $3.3 million in sewer repairs in an unincorporated area near Darien and to speed the completion of $50 million in highway improvements.
Neither bond issue will require an increase in property taxes. But the sewer-repair bond issue will be funded by higher sewer fees.
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The highway and bridge projects will be funded by bond sales backed by the annual motor-fuel tax revenue DuPage receives from the state. The bonds will allow the county to begin construction this year and next year on more than a dozen projects that otherwise would have been spread over six or seven years.
Donald Zeilenga, county transportation chief, said DuPage County hopes to save money on road costs by taking an advantage of a lull in construction spending by the Illinois Toll Highway Authority and the state Department of Transportation.
County Board member Irene Stone (R-Lombard) opposed the road bond issue, citing the projected interest expense of $18 million to $20 million and the added inconvenience to residents by bunching projects in the next two years.