Needless Barrels On Lemont Road For Months: City

DARIEN, IL – Orange barrels were on a street in Darien for months longer than needed, a city official said Tuesday.

They were finally removed late last week, said Dan Gombac, Darien's municipal services director.

Originally, the barrels were placed in both directions on Lemont Road at the Interstate 55 interchange for a state Department of Transportation construction project, Gombac said.

But he said the project was done months ago.

"Someone's paying for the rental of those barrels," Gombac said in an interview. "There is a cost to that. That cost goes back to the taxpayers."

The state had more culvert work to do in the area of the project, but that has not been scheduled, he said.

Gombac said he sent phone calls and emails to the state. The phone calls were not returned, but the communications "definitely" prompted the state to remove the barrels, he said.

At Monday's City Council meeting, Alderwoman Mary Sullivan said Gombac worked hard to push for the barrels to be cleared. She compared getting action from the state Department of Transportation to "beating a dead horse."

At the Sept. 16 council meeting, Treasurer Michael Coren asked about the barrels, asking if they were going to stay there indefinitely.

Gombac said he had called the state, but had gotten no answer. Patch wrote a story about the discussion a day later.

On Friday, the Department of Transportation responded to the city.

"The barrels and miscellaneous traffic control items along Lemont Road remained in place due to various punch list items, including electrical and drainage work that needed additional time due to utility conflicts," the department's spokeswoman, Maria Castaneda, said in an email. "The contractor has removed the traffic control that was part of this project."