Trustees see IDOT repairing drainage
Trustees this week moved to pave the way for an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation that could bring the village cash needed to replace to a dilapidated drainage structure underneath U.S. Highway 30 near Wolf Road.
Village Administrator John Downs said IDOT would design and fund the construction, which will cost between $700,000 and $800,000.
Downs said the state agency wants a new storm-water drainage system in place before intersection improvements begin to accommodate traffic generated by a Home Depot-anchored shopping center on the southwest corner.
The proposed intergovernmental agreement would give the money to the village, which would use it to reimburse the Home Depot that is expected to do the retail center’s site-development work.
But some trustees fear Home Depot may pull the plug on the project, leaving the village “on the hook” for the construction project, Trustee Laura Rusiniak said.
Mayor Robert Chiszar said he expects the retail project to proceed. “This is the site they want, and their intention is to build a store,” Chiszar said.
Downs said the company is looking at the site-development costs and the effects of competition from rival home improvement stores to be built in New Lenox.