It’s only a matter of three steps — four if you count the connecting sidewalk — but a set of stairs in downtown Flossmoor has turned into a substantial headache for village officials.

Village board members this week awarded a contract for the construction of a ramp that will replace the stairs at 2610 Flossmoor Road. The work will cost nearly twice the amount budgeted for the project, with the difference coming from the village’s general fund.

Public Works Director John Brunke said the sidewalk on the south side of Flossmoor Road needs to comply with the Americans With Disability Act (ADA) and that will never happen as long as the stairs are there. And the village cannot simply remove that section of sidewalk.

“It’s a public right of way,” Brunke said.

The stairs are there because of a topographic oddity at that particular stretch of Flossmoor Road. The sidewalk and building at that location are about three feet higher than the street. The south side of the street is similarly higher than the north side and the sidewalk descends into something of a natural bowl at the intersection of Flossmoor Road and Sterling Avenue.

Brunke said the village needs to replace the stairs with a 70-foot ramp covering the change in elevation.  The ramp will include a powder-coated handrail made of aluminum pipe.

When bids for the project were opened in May, village staff members were surprised that they were so high, Brunke said. The village budgeted slightly more $40,000 for the work and the lowest acceptable bid, along with minor additional costs, came in at $76,700. One of the bids was as high as $90,000.

Brunke listed a number of reasons for the high project cost. For instance, the price of cement went up 20 percent last fall.

In addition, Flossmoor had to follow a number of Cook County regulations for the stair project. Flossmoor Road is a county road at that location and the Cook County Highway Department had to sign off on the permit for the work. The county has a high cost for a permit bond. And the county decided that work can only take place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. since Flossmoor Road has so much traffic during the morning and evening rush hours.

“That means we are limited to a six-hour work day,” Brunke said. However, the contractor must hire workers for an eight-hour day and Flossmoor will have to pay for the additional two hours, further pushing up the cost of the project.

“Ultimately, we are responsible for restoring this area to be ADA compliant once we start construction,” Brunke said in a memo to village officials. “Further, this area is heavily traversed by commuters and the stairs continue to be in poor shape. Like sidewalks throughout the village, this area needs to be maintained.”

Brunke suggested that the additional costs of the project could come from this year’s sidewalk replacement program, which has a current budget of $60,000. He said $36,700 could be transferred from the sidewalk program to pay for the Flossmoor Road ramp.

Trustee Philip Minga said he did not like the sidewalk program being shortchanged to pay for the stair project. Transferring that money, he said, would only leave $23,630 for sidewalk replacements this year.

Mayor Paul Braun said there are sections of Flossmoor where sidewalks are in advanced state of disrepair. He said the sidewalk replacement budget has been cut in recent years and that he was against using that money to replace the stairs.

The rest of the board agreed with Minga and Braun and voted to approve contracts for both the stair project and the full sidewalk replacement program.