Eight DuPage County roads you may want to avoid
Nearly $4 million of road repaving could slow motorists at eight DuPage County locations this summer.
Starting early next month, workers will begin tearing up four roads on the county's south side, and another four are to begin in late July in the central and northern regions.
"We did something different this year by splitting the contracts geographically," said Chris Snyder, the county's chief highway engineer. "We had to do it because the conditions of the roads we're resurfacing this year didn't fare so well."
In all, the projects amount to just 6½ miles, but because many are four-lane thoroughfares, the work translates to around 24 lane-miles, Snyder said.
Lemont's K-Five Construction received the contract for the southern roadwork with a bid of $1,481,972. Hoffman Estates-based Plote Construction won the other contract with a bid of $2,348,606. The contracts include curb and gutter work, Snyder said.
"We expect to be at each site for about two weeks," K-Five Vice President Jennifer Krug said. "You have to be at the mercy of the weather right now."
K-Five's contract calls for work to be done by Sept. 26; Plote has until Oct. 30.
Most roads took a beating this winter and, instead of just repaving, there could be deep ruts in the concrete that need to be patched as well. Since raw materials and labor costs have increased, along with a doubling in the price of liquid asphalt, any extra work required at the site could be significant.
Krug said her firm likely will start at Yackley Road in Lisle, working where they'll work between Ogden and Maple avenues. From there, it's onto Naperville for a project on Plainfield-Naperville Road between 75th and 87th streets.
The final two jobs are actually connected and could be combined, she said. They are repaving 63rd Street from Cass Avenue to Clarendon Hills Road and Cass Road from 63rd to 67th streets in Westmont.
Plote officials didn't have a timeline set for their four projects.
Plote's contract calls for repaving two roads each in the central and northern parts of the county. The central section roadwork is Warrenville Road from River to Ferry roads in Warrenville and Finley Road in Downers Grove from Ogden Avenue to Butterfield Road.
One northern project is Wood Dale Road from Belmont Avenue to Irving Park Road in Wood Dale. The other is Army Trail Road from County Farm Road to 84 Court in Carol Stream.
The Army Trail Road project is one everyone will be keeping their eyes on. Plote is experimenting with an asphalt mixed with ground tire rubber that is believed to make the paving last longer.
John Kos, county director of transportation and operations, said if the special mix lives up to expectations, it could eventually reduce the county's annual repaving needs. The rubberized asphalt is believed to last about three to five years longer than traditional asphalt.
"That's the goal," Kos said. "But we've got to weigh the life against the cost."
The special mix costs more than traditional liquid asphalt, but the price disparity is shrinking as petroleum product costs skyrocket.
"The more communities that use ground tire rubber, the price will come down" because the product isn't being mass-produced, Kos said.
He added that no roadwork was delayed this year because of the increased cost of almost everything, but this round of projects probably would've cost about $200,000 less if slated for last year.