Oak Forest plans to spend about $1.36 million on road projects starting this summer using funds provided primarily by the state.
The City Council approved a resolution required by the Illinois Department of Transportation allowing state funds to be used for street maintenance between May 1 and April 30, 2019.
The money will be used for work along portions of Lynn Court, Fawn Court, 150th Street, Maple Drive, Mission Avenue and Sunset Avenue. Other items to be covered with the funds include the Cicero Avenue streetscape project and the 159th Street/Cicero Avenue culvert project, salt purchases, traffic signal maintenance, road crack sealing, tree planting and equipment rentals.
The ordinance approved by a 7-0 vote of the aldermen would give Oak Forest $700,000 in motor fuel taxes from the state, $225,000 in city gas taxes collected by the state and $435,000 in state general fund transfers.
The total should almost cover the city’s anticipated road maintenance needs for the upcoming year, officials said.
Darlene Milanowicz, Oak Forest’s assistant public works director, said the city will have to provide about $170,000 of its own funds for these projects, although she said that amount could have been significantly higher if not for a grant from the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association.
City Administrator Troy Ishler was pleased to see Lynn Court near 149th Street included on this year’s list of projects.
Ishler said that particular stretch of road has been on the city’s to-do list for nine years, but it has been pushed back each year. “That piece of road is in dire need of repair,” he said.
In a related matter, aldermen approved unanimously a state agreement that will allow them to receive an Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy grant that will provide money for the planting of 90 trees in the median of Cicero Avenue from 163rd to 167th streets.
Officials said the grant should cover 80 percent of the project’s total cost of $43,480. The city’s share will be $8,696. Ishler said this is one of the first significant tree plantings in Oak Forest since an infestation of ash trees in the suburb by the emerald ash borer killed many parkway trees.
Ishler said he thinks it’s a good deal for Oak Forest.
“We’re paying only $8,000 for a variety of trees to be planted,” he said.
More Top Picks Breville Quick Touch
Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.