The Aurora City Council last week approved millions of dollars for various road and water infrastructure projects across the city.
The largest dollar amount of any single one of the projects was the $4.6 million allocated towards annual road resurfacing work on the west and north sections of the city. A similar project, which focused on the East Side at a cost of around $4.4 million, was approved late last month.
In total, the two projects are expected to resurface a total of 44 lane miles of city streets, according to a staff report included online with the City Council’s May 12 meeting agenda. Staff wrote that the city maintains nearly 1,300 lane miles of streets, which have a surface life expectancy of 20 to 25 years.
A $4.6 million contract for the work was awarded to Geneva Construction Company, which had the lowest qualifying bid, the city staff report said. The company is expected to repave, in part or in whole, over 60 streets throughout the project.
Those roads include: Stephen Street, Stephen Court, Sarah Lane, Westbury Lane, Foxford Lane, Hermes Avenue, Kenmore Avenue, Arbor Lane, Everwood Court, Everwood Lane, Washington Street, Superior Street, Spring Street, Solfisburg Avenue, North Commonwealth Avenue, South Lancaster Avenue, South Glenwood Place, Plum Street, Park Manor, Merrimac Place, Monona Avenue, Kenilworth Place, Alameda Drive, Richard Street, Coral Avenue, Robert Street, Robert Court, Cypress Drive, Cambridge Drive, Cambridge Court, Chatham Drive, Chatham Circle, Manchester Way, Sumac Drive, Meadowsedge Lane, Woodside Court, Walden Circle, Surrey Court, North Queensbury Court, Maplewood Lane, Middle Queensbury Court, Wyckwood Court, Iowa Avenue, Huntington Drive, North Fordham Avenue, Grandview Drive, Greenlake Drive, Wilton Lane, Peacetree Circle, Pensacola Court, Grand Cypress Court and North Avenue, plus a number of alleyways.
Work is expected to begin in May and be completed around November, according to the city staff report. Work on each street will take around eight to 10 weeks, city staff said, and there will be some impact to local traffic.
The next most-expensive project approved by the Aurora City Council on May 12 was a water main replacement project, at a cost of around $1.1 million.
The Gerardi Sewer and Water company — which had the lowest qualifying bid and was awarded the contract — will replace the water main underneath nearly all of North Fordham Avenue, which is near McCleery Elementary School, according to plans included with the online city staff report.
Many of the service lines connecting homes in the area to the water main are made of lead, and so they will be replaced through the project with homeowners approval, city staff said in the report.
Another repaving project, this one for two city-owned parking lots, was also approved by the Aurora City Council on May 12.
The nearly $434,000 project will resurface the Aurora Transportation Center parking lot, located near Two Brothers Roundhouse and across from RiverEdge Park, plus a downtown parking lot on the southwest corner of River Street and New York Street.
According to a staff report, the Transportation Center’s parking lot is “showing considerable deterioration,” such as cracking.
The contract was awarded to Geneva Construction company, the lowest qualifying bidder.
Several engineering contracts were also awarded for the design of various planned roadway improvements.
A $352,000 contract with WBK Engineering is for the phase two design of safety improvements along New York Street. The roadway sees accidents attributed to left turns at traffic lights, city staff wrote in a report.
Potential changes along the roadway could include additional left-turn lanes, new turn signals, improved street lighting, better pavement markings, sidewalk or multi-use path work, signage and pedestrian ramp improvements, according to the staff report.
Total construction cost for the project is currently estimated at just under $2.3 million, the report said, with a large portion of that cost to be paid through federal funds.
The city awarded Gewalt Hamilton Associates a roughly $225,000 contract for the preliminary design of improvements to the intersection of Farnsworth Avenue and Ogden Avenue.
The design is set to include a new right-turn lane from eastbound on Ogden to southbound on Farnsworth, plus an additional left-turn lane from northbound on Farnsworth to westbound on Ogden, according to a city staff report. Crosswalks are also expected to be upgraded at the intersection.
Baxter and Woodman was awarded a $130,000 contract for early design work around the Bilter Road Highway Safety Improvement Program Project.
The plan is to install high-friction treatments along the curves of Bilter Road from the Interstate 88 westbound ramps to the Illinois Prairie Path crossing, a city staff report said. These high-friction treatments will be a pilot for the city.
Plus, the project is expected to add rapid flashing beacons to the Prairie Path crossing, the report said.
“These improvements are expected to reduce the number of crashes including roadway and lane departure crashes and will reduce the risk of crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists,” staff wrote in the report.
In addition to the infrastructure projects that the Aurora City Council allocated funds for at the May 12 meeting, over $1 million was approved for the purchase of roadway salt to be used for ice removal.
The 2025-26 winter season was “very harsh” with higher-than-average salt usage, according to a staff report. The Public Works facility salt dome, one of the city’s three domes, is almost empty, the report said.
So, city staff said they are looking to fill that dome back to capacity before the winter starts.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
