Kendall County Times

Kendall County Highway Committee met Sept. 10.

Here is the agenda provided by the committee:

MEMBERS PRESENT: Zach Bachmann, Ruben Rodriguez & Dan Koukol

STAFF PRESENT: Michele Riley and Francis Klaas

ALSO PRESENT: P.J. Fitzpatrick

The committee meeting convened at 3:35 P.M. with roll call of committee members. DeBolt and Gengler absent. Quorum established.

Motion Koukol; second Rodriguez, to approve the agenda. Motion approved unanimously.

Motion Rodriguez; second Koukol, to approve the Highway Committee minutes from August 13, 2024. Motion approved unanimously.

The latest update to the 5-Year Surface Transportation Program 2025-2029 was presented to the committee. Koukol asked if the intersections of Plainfield & Schlapp and Plainfield & Collins were included in the plan. Klaas confirmed that they were. Koukol was planning to stop in and discuss the project with the property owner at the Schlapp intersection. Klaas indicated that the proposed roundabout at the intersection of Little Rock Road and Creek Road was back in the program. He also discussed that there were significant funds – about $20 million – in the plan that was unsecured for the Ridge Road widening from Caton Farm Road to Plainfield Road. In general terms, he stated that the 5-Year Plan should show about $60 to $70 million in county funds, based on the annual revenues. The current plan falls right in that sweet spot at about $65 million.

Rodriguez asked about the big spike in expenditures for 2029. He confirmed that this was because of the unsecured funds for the Ridge Road project. He asked what “PE” stood for. Klaas responded that it stood for preliminary engineering. He also asked what “HMA” stood for. This means hot mix asphalt (resurfacing). Rodriguez was also interested in the forecasting and actual expenditures for projects. He was curious about how the County performed on certain projects, based on the original projections. Klaas indicated that there wasn’t a lot of accurate data on that except for more recent years. Rodriguez pointed out that there were many projects funded with Transportation Sales Tax Funds, but only 4 with Federal & State funding. Klaas discussed some of the strategies that he uses for programming projects. Motor Fuel Taxes are generally used for routine resurfacing and maintenance projects, as this requires very little coordination with IDOT. Transportation Sales Taxes are used for everything because they are local funds and require no coordination with IDOT. Federal and other State funds are generally used on complicated projects that will be managed with engineering consultants. This keeps the count for necessary full-time County employees to a minimum. Klaas added that the County has access to many really good consultants in northeast Illinois with expertise in every area of construction. This puts the County in a good position to balance projects managed by the Highway Department and those managed by consultants.

Koukol asked about the number of crashes at Galena Road and Little Rock Road. Klaas couldn’t remember the exact number. Koukol was surprised at the number of crashes there because it is such a wide-open area. He thought a roundabout at that location would work well. Klaas discussed the different emphasis of the roundabout there as compared with the one at Little Rock & Creek Road. The former would serve to improve traffic flow, as that intersection has a very high volume at peak hour; whereas the one at Little Rock & Creek would be more focused on traffic safety. Bachmann emphasized the number of crashes at Plainfield & Schlapp (26). He also discussed the Grove & Route 52 intersection improvement and wondered what type of improvement might be put in there. Koukol was curious as to how much money the County would have to put into that improvement. Klaas reiterated that IDOT was the lead agency for the project. He wasn’t sure what type of improvement it would be, based on others in the area; but had programmed the improvement for 2027 in our 5-Year Plan. Upon further consideration, motion Bachmann; second Rodriguez to recommend approval of the 5-Year Plan to the County Board. Motion approved unanimously.

In other business, Rodriguez asked about the inventory of plow trucks at the Highway Department. Klaas stated that the current strategy is to buy a new truck and get rid of an old truck every year. With a total inventory of 10 trucks, this will keep the fleet at less than 10-years old. Rodriguez asked what was done with the old trucks. Klaas said that sometimes they are traded in. Other times they have been sold to other governmental agencies. He added that the tough part is getting a commitment to build a truck. Koukol wondered why Bonnell is so far behind in truck building. The committee discussed different truck building companies in the area, and the ongoing trouble with scheduling the buildouts. Bachmann asked if there would be any interest in other County departments getting the old Highway Department trucks. Klaas didn’t they would be interested as they would generally be too big for the other Departments needs.

Motion Koukol; second Rodriguez, to forward Highway Department bills for the month of September in the amount of $67,012.97 to the Finance Committee for approval. Motion approved unanimously.

Motion Koukol; second Rodriguez to adjourn the meeting at 3:57 PM. Motion carried unanimously.

https://www.kendallcountyil.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/31355