DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Highway Committee met June 2.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

A public meeting of the Highway Committee of the DeKalb County Board was held at 6:00pm.

Chairman Plote called the meeting to order at 6:02pm and called for the roll. Committee members present were Mr. Deutsch, Ms. Emmer, Vice Chair Luebke, and Mr. Osland. Absent was Ms. Jones. Ms. Willis called in via the phone due to health issues. The County Engineer, Mr. Nathan Schwartz and Ms. Stacy Richardson, Support Services Manager were also present. Motion to allow Ms. Willis to join the meeting by phone due to health issues was made by Mr. Luebke and seconded by Mr. Deutsch. The motion passed unanimously.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Motion made by Ms. Emmer and seconded by Mr. Osland to approve the agenda as presented. The motion passed unanimously.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Mr. Luebke moved and Mr. Deutsch seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the regular May 5, 2022 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

Mr. John Nierzwicki, P.E. of Enright Architects asked if he could hold his comment time until the committee discusses the Peace Road Access Point, no objections given.

OVERVIEW OF 2023 SCHEDULED EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT:

County Engineer stated that each year we submit a budget in August for all the capital expenditures on a 5-year schedule for equipment purchases and construction projects. This advance draft version is given to the committee to review and ask questions before the official budget submittal. Mr. Schwartz explained that a plow/dump truck is a yearly item with 12 in the rotation while other vehicle items are looked at when it comes up on the replacement cycle outlined in that column on the spreadsheet. Vehicle replacements are based on the condition but the replacement cycle provides an idea when it should be considered. This provides an opportunity to adjust the schedule if something needs pushed up and another item pushed back in the scheduling.

OVERVIEW OF 2023 SCHEDULED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS:

County Engineer stated the levy marks have not been received yet from administration and finance to work within budget restrictions. However, we have preliminarily listed the next 5-years of major projects that flow through the highway budget even if it might be township or municipal projects. Proposed numbers are based off recently seen increased construction costs, figures will obviously depend on the economy but we are seeing good growth in the county, those numbers should be available shortly. 2023 Projects include paving Lee & West County Line Rd, box culvert work will be done on Rollo Road, and the Peace Rd Bridge north of Rt. 64 will be replaced not just widened. Replacing is to increase the structural capacity; it will widen to a 5-lane cross-section and have full width shoulders to match the adjacent sections of road. Regarding the potential relocation east of Lindgren Road on Plank Road, there is consideration of changing road patterns, realignments, or realigning curves based on a study that began about one year ago. We have received the biological approval from IDOT and awaiting cultural review now. Toward end of summer is the expected timeframe to do public comment periods and reach out to the agricultural, subdivision, residents, businesses, school district, and municipalities for input. An online survey may be one way to gather input from a larger portion of the population.

The County Engineer has a 25-year construction bridge and road schedule if any additional questions arise in looking beyond the 5-year plan.

We will be applying for a Federal Safety Grant for the Glidden Road-Baseline Road intersection.

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS: Chairman Plote stated he would like the County Engineer to talk with the State Legislature to look into concerns of Google Maps showing wrong directions or destinations as it directs trucks to addresses, Facebook on Gurler Road as an example that leads to truck traffic in wrong locations. No additional comments at this time.

COUNTY ENGINEER’S COMMENTS:

Peace Road Access Point - Mr. John Nierzwicki, P.E. of Enright Architects presented pictures of the area proposed for future development near Peace Rd and DeKalb Ave on behalf of Belle Tires, a 100-year-old company wishing to build a 9,800 sq ft store in this undeveloped location. This parcel is not annexed into the City of Sycamore. They desire an additional Peace Road access to move forward and currently the purchase of the property is contingent on access approval. Mr. Nierzwicki laid out his best determined solution to an access point choice. This is based on lack of sufficient easement width off the existing Plaza Drive which provides two separate access points. Discussion on the type of access, the impacts for truck delivery access, crossing Peace Road to make left turns, restricted access, a raised median, the detention area, a deceleration turn lane, safety, and road maintenance concerns were brought up. The County Engineer provided other information in the packet regarding the Peace Road access original agreement that outlines 24 locations for pre-determined access points agreed upon with the County and the City when Peace Road was originally built. If desired to modify this access point agreement, it has to be approved by both the County Board and the Sycamore City Council. This is not a zoning change for the County, strictly an access point agreement, which the county engineer can award an access point along county highway roads normally. In this instance, it is because of the agreement that it has to go to the County Board. County Engineer stated there is interest in another access point request south of the intersection for the car dealership. Ms. Emmer made a motion to pass on to the Full County Board to allow the additional access as presented on Peace Road between access 7 and 7A. Mr. Osland seconded the motion, with no more discussion, motion called for vote, Mr. Plote stating the only “nay”, the motion passed.

Following up on discussion for a request of a No Engine Braking Zone from last month’s meeting, the County Engineer asked the committee for direction. The committee believed it is not realistic to be able to enforce such zones even with signage. It was agreed such zones should occur in urban areas, specifically in municipalities, therefore the issue dies.

The transportation improvement progress report was reviewed with the Committee.

- New Lebanon Road bridge replacement construction stands at 85% complete

- Peace Road Bridge moving along on design work

- Plank Road Study were discussed in earlier comments

- Pearl Street Bridge preliminary engineering early started for the Village of Kirkland Bridge built in couple of years

- Perry Road Bridge preliminary engineering began, will meet with designers next week for the structure east of Chase Road

- Rollo Road culvert replacements are moving forward

- Suydam Road & North First Street county paving projects are waiting for IDOT to execute the contract that was awarded to Curran Contracting for both

- Chicago Road at Gov Beveridge Highway is a curved intersection. There was a depression started in the road in the middle of a lane. Upon further inspection, we found an 18” metal end tile dumping into creek to the north. Last Friday, due to safety concerns, we decided to close the road and place a large steel plate to span over the hole. Over the weekend, there was a lot of water running under the road which accelerated pavement cracking. Photos were shared of the 9 ft x 10 ft void. Upon our request for quotes for emergency work, two contractors provided quotes with Elliott & Wood being the lower quote. Plans are to replace the 18” with a 24” tile for additional capacity upgrade and replace a deteriorated crossroad pipe in the same area while the road is still closed.

- Crack-fill contractor finished their work; one hot mix contractor has finished two projects; another hot mix contractor to begin week of June 13th. Seal coat probably starts in July.

On the Legislative update, not much is happening right now with everyone at home preparing for the summer election.

The County Engineer has given two presentations at conferences on the DSATS 360 Project, which has exploded in interest including the State of Illinois, the Federal Highway Administration. The University of Illinois at Chicago is very interested in how it may relate to an ADA safety evaluation based on Google Street View which they created. One of the recurring questions include how often Street View updating needs to be completed. Staff believe it would be primarily based on development and road improvements.

ADJOURNMENT: Hearing no other business Chairman Plote asked for a motion to adjourn. A motion was made by Mr. Osland, seconded by Mr. Duetche, motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05pm.

https://dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/minutes-hwy-06022022.pdf