Wheaton wants fewer trees along widened Butterfield Road

Wheaton officials are saying "thanks, but no thanks" to an Illinois Department of Transporation proposal to plant about 650 trees and shrubs when it widens Butterfield Road through the city.

City officials say Wheaton simply can't afford the annual cost to maintain all the greenery. So they are asking IDOT to scale back the elaborate landscaping plan before work starts on reconstructing and widening Butterfield from Naperville Road in Wheaton to Route 59 in Warrenville.

Wheaton's request has no impact on what landscaping work IDOT might do along the Warrenville stretch of the project.

"To their credit, IDOT said, 'We have the money. We could make this project bigger, better and more beautiful,'" Mayor Michael Gresk said Tuesday. "And at first, you're like 'Heck yeah. Put a lot of trees in there and make it pretty.'"

But when Wheaton officials estimated how much it would cost to maintain the new trees and shrubs, they determined it would come to about $65,000 a year. That's an added expense the city can't afford due to its budgetary constraints, officials said.

"We want fewer trees, fewer bushes and less maintenance so we don't have to spend $65,000 a year," Gresk said.

Otherwise, Wheaton officials say they don't have any concerns about the project.

The state is planning to widen the roughly six-mile stretch of Butterfield to four lanes with a center median. Right now, that section of the road is two lanes.

It's unclear when construction would start, but an IDOT spokeswoman said the plan is to seek bids for the project in September. Once it does begin, the work would take two years to complete and cost about $60 million.

To help reduce noise for nearby homeowners, concrete sound-blocking walls will be installed along the north side of Butterfield between Cromwell Drive and Wiesbrook Road.