Flossmoor officials Wednesday will outline plans for a multi-year street maintenance program in the village.
Results of a pavement management report (PMR) will be presented at the rescheduled village board meeting, along with preliminary proposals on how to best operate a long-range street program. Flossmoor is likely to look for alternative funding sources so that village streets can be maintained in good condition for years to come.
The board meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. July 5 at the village hall, 2800 Flossmoor Road. The meeting was rescheduled due to the July 4 holiday.
Mayor Paul Braun has said keeping Flossmoor’s streets in good condition – not the case in numerous spots around town – is a key priority for the village.
In February, the village board approved a contract with Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers for the preparation of a PMR assessing the condition of each public and private road in the village. The report looks at pavement condition for every Flossmoor street, along with the amount of required pavement patching, amount of curb and gutter replacement and estimated construction costs.
Public Works Director John Brunke called the report a “key planning tool” that can be updated every year as work progresses and improvements are made.
In the 1980s, Flossmoor approved bonds for a large-scale street resurfacing project, Brunke said in a memo to the board.
“Now, most of those streets are in need of repair and due to their condition, the only practical repair is resurfacing,” Brunke said. Still, he added most of Flossmoor’s streets, about 80 percent, are in good to fair condition, while only about 4 percent are in poor to failing shape.
In the future, Flossmoor will have to move to other maintenance options, such as crack sealing, to keep local streets in good condition, Brunke said. Crack sealing is a maintenance strategy that prevents water from further damaging roads.
For years, Flossmoor, like many other Illinois, communities, has relied on Motor Fuel Taxes (MFT) from the state to pay for resurfacing and other street repairs. However, MFT allotments have fallen in recent years and can no longer support a successful street maintenance program, Brunke said.
Currently, Flossmoor can annually resurface only the worst streets in the village. With diminishing MFT dollars, that is becoming increasingly more difficult.
“We need to identify other funding sources to support the street maintenance program,” Brunke said.
