Want Sidewalks In Elmhurst? Here Are Possible Costs

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst has some answers on what sidewalks would cost for neighborhoods that lack them.

For years, residents on the northeast side have clamored for sidewalks, saying they would make schoolchildren and others safer. Some, though, oppose sidewalks.

According to a city memo this week, a sidewalk would cost $5,500 to $9,400 for a standard interior lot and $22,000 to $37,600 for a corner lot.

The memo indicated sidewalks cost about $110 a foot for ones recently built on Butterfield Road and North Avenue. But those projects were in areas with no elevation changes and no curb cuts, which reduced costs.

The city also looked at its most recent project under its 50-50 program for sidewalks, in which residents and the city split the costs. The 2009 project involved a sidewalk on the west side of Willow Road between Gladys and Crestview avenues. In 2023 dollars, the sidewalk cost $188 a foot, the city memo said.

In the coming years, Elmhurst is looking to build sidewalks on Crestview, Indiana Street and Van Auken Street, all on the northeast side. The city would foot the entire cost. That is a shift in the city's longtime policy of requiring residents in a neighborhood to cover half the bill.

On Monday, the City Council's Development, Planning and Zoning Committee plans to look at the sidewalk issue at 7 p.m. at City Hall.