DeKALB – Building and repairing bridges are expensive projects, so local officials are crossing that bridge before they come to it.
There are four bridges in DeKalb County that are undergoing repairs or complete replacement: the Lee Road and Pritchard Road bridges in the Squaw Grove Township, the Five Points Road bridge in Kingston and the Shabbona Grove bridge in Shabbona.
None of these projects is inexpensive. The Five Points Road bridge – the one being replaced – will cost $2.5 million, said Nathan Schwartz, county engineer. Complete replacements typically cost between $300,000 to $1 million, Schwartz said, but the Five Points Road bridge is more expensive because it includes a sidewalk to one side of the bridge.
As county officials plan to replace the Keslinger Road bridge in Afton Township next year, thanks to a $900,000 court settlement, they acknowledge that most other local bridge projects must wait for enough local property taxes and gas taxes to accumulate. Both those funding sources have been decreasing with local property values and improved vehicle fuel efficiency, while construction costs are increasing.
State Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Hinckley, said proposed legislation to change the system has failed to pass. The Transportation Illinois Coalition proposed a state tax for all cars, including hybrids and electric cars, to fund bridge and road repairs.
“They had a creative proposal, but with the climate right now, people just don’t want to support any taxes,” Pritchard said. “That’s where the proposal fell on deaf ears.”
When officials don’t have money to upgrade or repair local bridges, they limit the weight allowed to cross them. There are three bridges in the county which have a weight limit lower than the nearby road’s weight limit: two sister bridges on South Paw Paw Road in the Paw Paw Township and a bridge on McNeal Road in the Franklin Township.
This forces heavily-loaded trucks to divert around those bridges.
“Other bridges [that] have a weight limit [are] in line for replacement, but we can’t do it,” Schwartz said. “We don’t have the money to replace these bridges after 50 years.”
Federal construction money is used only under certain conditions, Schwartz said. Whenever officials want to use that money, they need to fill out a lot of paperwork, Schwartz said.
Eighty percent of the Five Points Road bridge replacement funding is from federal dollars. The rest will come from a combination of motor fuel taxes and property tax money.
Perry Jungels, Squaw Grove Township road commissioner, is overseeing the projects for the Lee Road and Pritchard Road bridges. He said he gets by with the funds he has by saving money over several years.
The road commissioners before him set up an account for bridge projects, which he still uses.
“Each road commissioner tries to work with what we’ve got,” Jungels said. “Everybody wants more money, but you do with what you have to work with.”
Meanwhile, Schwartz said motorists need to be mindful of bridge weight limits to prevent another bridge collapse.
Keslinger Road bridge collapsed in 2008 after trucks too heavy for the bridge overwhelmed the eight timber piles holding the structure up. The bridge is expected to be replaced next year thanks to a $900,000 legal settlement with Enbridge Energy, which had overweight trucks crossing the bridge to build an oil pipeline.