Federal grant money allows Palatine to resurface Plum Grove Road

Palatine will be able to complete around twice the normal amount of road resurfacing this year thanks to a $1.8 million federal grant approved by the village council Monday night to update a main village road.

The federal money will fund 80 percent of the cost to resurface Plum Grove Road from Northwest Highway to Aldridge Avenue, a distance of approximately 2 miles. The village will pay $456,818 for 20 percent of the cost and the engineering expenses.

Councilman Scott Lamerand praised the village staff's ability to get such a significant amount of money from an outside source.

"Just to put this in perspective when we go out to levy our property taxes each year we levy about $21 million total," Lamerand said. "That's an exceptional job, hat's off to you, it's really important what we're about to go through here today."

Although it is federal money the grant passed through the state. Lamerand said he was glad the state wasn't able to get in the way of the grant.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said because they won the grant they will be able to resurface other village roads sooner. Ottesen said the village spends $1.8 million to $2 million a year on street resurfacing throughout the whole village. He said they knew Plum Grove Road was in need of resurfacing and if they hadn't won the grant to do the whole road this year they would have likely had to resurface the road in chunks over the next five years or so.

So, if your street gets resurfaced in the next few years there's a chance that it is thanks to the federal government that it happened as soon as it did.

Ottesen said in addition to resurfacing the road, workers will also improve handicap accessibility to the sidewalks along Plum Grove Road and also improve the road's drainage so there is less standing water after it rains.

Ottesen said work is expected to begin on Plum Grove Road in the late summer and early fall.