Elmhurst 'Not On Track' With Concrete Street Work: Official

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst's mayor and an alderman disputed this week whether the city was on track with its concrete street projects.

At one point, the alderman asked, "Why are we kidding ourselves?"

Ultimately, the City Council agreed with Mayor Scott Levin that the city was on track. It voted to back the city staff's proposal to provide no money for work on concrete streets for a second year. Such streets make up 16 percent of local road miles, according to the city.

As he has before, Alderman Michael Bram pointed to a 2014 plan calling for the city to resurface all concrete streets in a dozen years. At the time, the staff recommended the plan and the City Council approved it.

Now, the city says that work will get done by 2032, six years later than planned.

Many of those streets are in north Elmhurst, particularly in Bram's northeast Ward 3. Those Ward 3 streets were paved in the late 1960s and have a lifespan of 50 to 70 years, according to the city.

At Monday's budget meeting, city officials said a 2021 study showed many of the northeast streets were in fair or good condition. They also said half the concrete streets in northeast Elmhurst have been resurfaced in the last decade.

Bram noted the city's justification of fiscal constraints in its decision to zero out money for concrete streets.

At the same time, Bram said, the city was hiking its asphalt street budget by nearly $700,000, to $3.9 million. That increase, he said, shows fiscal considerations were not the issue.

The other Ward 3 alderman, Chris Jensen, got an assurance at the meeting that the administration would include money in 2025 for concrete streets. He said he understood that plans change, but requested the city notify aldermen from wards with more concrete streets about proposals to zero out money.

Levin said the city was on track with its concrete street resurfacing. If anything, he said, Elmhurst residents with asphalt streets were at a disadvantage.

"I feel like if there's any inequity, it's for people like me who have asphalt streets," the mayor said. "I didn't get the high-quality streets that last 50 or 75 years. I got those crummy ones that last 18 or 20, so I see that as an inequity to the majority of the city. But we're not going to spend the money and give everyone concrete streets."

Bram took exception to Levin's comments.

"I don't know how we could say, 'Oh, we're happy that we're on track,' We're not on track. Why are we kidding ourselves?" the alderman said. "Six years on a 12-year plan is not on track, a plan that was approved by staff, suggested by staff and approved by council. That is not on track."

Ward 4 Alderwoman Noel Talluto said it was important for Elmhurst residents to understand the truth.

"I think it is unfortunate for people to walk away thinking that concrete streets are not maintained or maintained at a lower amount than other streets in Elmhurst," Talluto said. "That is not a fair conclusion from the information presented."

However, Bram said he gave the truth to residents about concrete streets. He said everything he presented came from reports that the city staff wrote and the council approved.

"I'm not making this stuff up," he said.

Bram proposed the council put $540,000 in the concrete budget for next year. The council voted that down 12-1, with Bram as the lone dissenter.

Ward 4 Alderman Brian Cahill was absent. Last month, he told his colleagues it was important for the city to keep doing work on concrete streets.

Jensen and Ward 6 Alderwoman Emily Bastedo both said they appreciated Bram asking the questions. They said the city needed to have the discussion.

Jensen said it was unfortunate the city would put no money into concrete streets for two years.

But he said he was glad the city planned to invest money in 2025 and get the streets improved within their useful life range.

"I'm glad we went through this exercise," he said.

Monday's meeting was the last of several budget sessions. The council did not vote for any changes to the staff-recommended budget.