St. Charles to buy $76,000 fence for six residents

The new Red Gate Road bridge crossing over the Fox River in St. Charles will be a blessing for many commuters, but fundamental changes to the surrounding land have fueled a safety problem that will cost nearly $80,000 to fix.

The bridge project requires a widening of Route 25 to facilitate traffic flow making left turns. That means the trees and embankment that once provided a buffer to a busy Route 25 for residents of the Woods of Fox Glen subdivision are now gone. A half dozen homes now have yards that plummet down to the roadway. The homeowners want the city to pay for a fence that would keep children from tumbling down the new embankment and prevent strangers from walking up the embankment onto their property.

But state officials overseeing the project don’t believe either of those are likely occurrences, St. Charles Public Works Director Mark Koenen said.

“They are saying that since this is not a public way, they are not concerned that someone could get up there and fall down the slope,” Koenen said. “And they don’t believe a fence is necessary to restrict people from that location.”

Five of the six Woods of Fox Glen residents at the top of that slope disagree. They’ve picked out an 8-foot-tall, no-maintenance fence with a brick appearance to provide a new safety buffer. There will already be a 6-foot-tall retaining wall installed at the bottom of the slope. But Koenen said he doesn’t believe that will provide the safety assurances the city residents are looking for.

The city did not budget to install such a fence. But there is money in the Red Gate Road bridge fund, which is partially funded by a special tax levy on St. Charles residents, to pay for the fence.

Alderman William Turner said the cost is worth the added safety.

“This is a major project that has disturbed neighborhoods both on the east and west side,” Turner said. “I would definitely want to move forward on this.”

Aldermen agreed. The city will go forward with the purchase and installation of a fence along that portion of Route 25. The cost will be no more than $76,000.