Much of Burr Ridge’s road improvement efforts this year will focus on streets in the industrial area, which is not sitting well with all officials.
“We are spending $400,000 on roads in the industrial park,” Village Trustee Diane Bolos said. “I think we need to look at saving residents’ money. Can patching be done in the industrial park?
“The village administrator has said we are running out of money for the road program. I think we should look at slowing down on the street improvements then.”
Both Bolos and fellow Trustee John Manieri voted “no” when the village’s 2015 Road Program was presented last week. The road program, however, passed by a 4-2 vote.
Voting for the plan were trustees Guy Franzese, Al Paveza, Len Ruzak and Janet Ryan Grasso. Mayor Mickey Straub was absent.
Of the $690,500 the village will spend on road improvements this year, nearly 60 percent ($411,400) will go toward work in the High Grove Industrial Park.
Manieri said he has driven the roads in the industrial park and did not feel they were that bad. Driving his truck in the area, “I didn’t lose my shocks or anything,” he said.
He felt more money could be spent on residential streets and less on roads in the industrial park.
In addition to the $411,400 spent on High Grove improvements, the 2015 Road Program also calls for work on:
* Tower Drive – $125,800
* Dougshire Court – $33,500
* Wildwood Subdivision – $59,800
* Maintenance and ancillary services – $60,000.
Public Works Director Paul May noted roads picked for the annual resurfacing program are identified in a villagewide street-rating survey done every two years. He said the village’s engineering staff evaluates alternatives in order to identify a program which:
* maintains the village roadways in a sound condition
* complies with budgetary and financial constraints
More Top Picks Sonos Beam
* provides equity to taxpayers.
The village spent $718,000 on road improvements in 2014. May noted village streets have an average life of about 15 years before needing to be completely redone.
Village Administrator Steve Sticker admitted that money in the roads fund is starting to dip.
“There were years when we spent $1 million on road improvements and now we are down to $690,000,” he said.
However, cutting back on road improvements now, he said, could cost the village more down the road as reconstruction work becomes more costly.
Bolos questioned whether a special assessment could be used to finance the industrial park improvements, freeing up money to do more residential streets.
“It is tough enough to get businesses in town without considering a special assessment,” Ruzak said. “We need to keep the money where it is.”
Trustee Franzese agreed, saying the cost to rebuild industrial park roadways will increase if the streets fall too far into disrepair.
“It would not be wise to reallocate funds away from the industrial park,” Franzese said.