Trustees working to beautify North Aurora

For North Aurora trustees, improving the village can be as simple as making sure power lines are underground.

The village moved Monday to ensure some new lines will be underground to start with, and is investigating burying or moving unsightly poles along Route 31, officials said.

The village board approved spending more than $103,000 from its coffers to avoid power poles along Orchard Gateway, just east of the North Aurora Towne Center between Hansen Boulevard and Randall Road.

The power lines are needed for future growth, especially in the eastern half of a large commercial development on Orchard Gateway, Village Administrator Sue McLaughlin said.

The move will keep the village's western corridor aesthetically pleasing. The village has one of the state's largest wetland mitigation projects on more than 100 acres just north of Orchard Gateway, and the thought of running 19 power poles across that land spurred trustees to find a better solution, she said.

"When (the wetlands) grow in, it's going to be really nice. We don't want it to be another situation like Route 31 where we want to bury the lines in 10 years," McLaughlin said.

Village President John Hansen said after years of talking about burying the Route 31 poles, he is pushing the village to move forward on the project.

He said the Route 31 poles are a safety hazard because they are only feet from the busy road. McLaughlin said that project could cost the village more than $1 million.

Hansen said public opinion polls suggest people want the power lines underground or off the street as part of an overall aesthetic improvement to the corridor. He also envisions more people using Route 31 once the Reagan Memorial Tollway is widened and the interchange at Route 31 improved.

"I certainly support (moving the poles) as a crucial part of the Route 31 corridor improvement. It's the first major step," Hansen said. "it's a project I started and certainly want to see it finished."