Winfield doubles road maintenance fund
Winfield officials are expected to move $345,000 set aside to fix major roads next year into their 2011-2012 budget, essentially doubling the amount of money they have available this year for street improvements.
The move will allow the village to address some of the most heavily used side streets while pursuing federal grants for main roads.
But village engineer Dan Watson warned a move to decrease the asphalt’s thickness for budget reasons could be cause for concern. Watson said in a report presented Thursday to the village board that the change could cut the life cycle of the roads from 20 years to 10.
Ideally, Watson said, the village would develop a 15-year replacement cycle for all the streets under its jurisdiction. The village currently is operating on a 20-year cycle “trying to get more bang for the buck.”
“It’s a roll of the dice,” he said. ”
The savings of using less asphalt are significant. Without the change, rural repairs cost $55 per lineal foot and subdivision work comes in at $83 per lineal foot. But the reduction in thickness changes that to $37 and $54, respectively.
As part of a 2007 intergovernmental agreement, DuPage County paid the village $352,800 for projected resurfacing costs of a half-mile segment of High Lake Road, from Winfield Road west, and a 1.1-mile portion of Winfield Road, from Jewell Road to Geneva Road. The village took over jurisdiction of the roads to increase control of the Town Center development.
However, as the village has struggled to find money to pay for its road maintenance program — a referendum push to do just that failed last fall — officials have had to look for increasingly creative ways to do so. The initial budget had set aside $300,000 for street improvements. But cost estimates showed that would not be nearly enough to put a significant dent in the poor to failing roads, which village President Deb Birutis has in the past estimated to cover about half of the village’s 34.6 miles of pavement.
But using the anticipated funds could get them closer.
“I would not use the word ‘gamble,’” Village Manager Curt Barrett said. “We are going to get value for the dollars we are spending. The question, is how long will the work last?”
Barrett stressed the plan to redirect the money is a short-term solution and he expects the board to schedule public hearings to receive input on how to proceed with future road repairs some time this summer.
“This is a plan for this year that covers the most ground, using every dollar we have been able to secure for that purpose,” he said. “The IGA with the county that turned over responsibility ... left us with the flexibility of how we chose to use those dollars.”