Sidewalk repair costs rising in Wheaton

A sidewalk repair program in Wheaton will cost roughly $50,000 more than the city budgeted after officials discovered an inspection of problem areas underestimated the extent of the defects.

The Wheaton City Council Monday approved a $300,550 plan to replace defective sidewalk slabs in an area east of Naperville Road and south of Roosevelt Road.

At an October planning session, the council directed staff to replace slabs with high- and medium-severity defects along with previously patched slabs at an estimated cost of $230,000. City officials budgeted $250,000 for the program for fiscal 2012-2013.

But city officials say data collected last summer by interns with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning underestimated the number of slabs that must be replaced.

To prepare for the bidding process, public works staff members physically marked the areas and discovered almost 950 additional defective slabs that could cause pedestrians to trip.

Officials say the project now will cost about $300,500 plus an additional $19,400 for engineering services. Construction is scheduled to begin in late May or early June.

“We can talk about the money, but it’s a public safety issue,” Councilman Phil Suess said. “It’s an asset in our community. This is something that we haven’t paid a lot of attention to in the past.”

In 2009, the city shut down a sidewalk replacement program due to budget cuts. The voluntary program split costs between the city and property owners affected by the work.

The new program will be paid in full by the city.

Meanwhile, the city expects to complete sidewalk repairs in the central business district by May at a cost of $25,000 for the remainder of the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

City staff members recommended future repair work be completed up to a budgeted threshold.

“I think we go cautiously as we go forward here on the north side because I think costs are probably going to escalate quickly,” City Manager Don Rose said.

Assistant City Manager Michael Dzugan said public works staff will evaluate and document the number of additional sidewalks that need to be replaced rather than interns.

“That’s probably something that they didn’t have the experience or expertise to do,” Dzugan said.