DeKalb OK 5-year $12M street maintenance plan

By MEGANN HORSTEAD mhorstead@shawmedia.com

DeKALB – DeKalb city leaders this week approved a five-year plan for city street improvements through 2028, the largest financial commitment “in a long time,” DeKalb City Manager Bill Nicklas said.

DeKalb City Council voted to adopt the plan for annual street maintenance for the years 2024-2028, which will dedicate $12 million in funding toward about 26 miles of city streets in poor or failing condition.

Nicklas said the city has a long way to go to meet its infrastructure needs.

“We are not gaining ground,” Nicklas said. “We are not even holding our own. The money we are devoting to street maintenance this year, $2,560,000, is the largest we’ve done in a long time. We’re averaging around $2.2 to $2.5 million a year. But that leaves us about $1.5 million short of where we need to be to hold our own.”

The city, along with DeKalb County’s metropolitan planning organization, DeKalb-Sycamore Area Transportation Study, has identified priority projects for inclusion in the program, according to city documents.

City Engineer Zac Gill said the work comprising the street maintenance program generally consists of resurfacing, mill and overlay.

Under the plan, 2024 work would occur on Fairview on the south side, and then focus on the city’s north side south loops off West Hillcrest, the northern Northern Illinois University campus area, including Sunnymeade Trail and Fox Hollow court residential areas, and loop on Loren Drive.

In 2025, work could occur on Tilton Park Drive, more north side loops off of West Hillcrest, and Barb Boulevard.

Work in 2026 would highlight Greenwood Acres Drive and Fairway loop, all of Eden’s Garden residential area and remove speed tables along West Hillcrest, from Sycamore Road to Normal Road, replacing the devices with “other traffic calming methods,” city documents show.

In 2027, street work would focus on

See STREETS, page 11