Hinsdale's 'Last Poor Street' To Be Fixed: Official

HINSDALE, IL — Hinsdale officials have decided to reconstruct what one official called the village's "last poor street." Now, the question is whether the village will use concrete or asphalt.

This week, the Village Board reviewed bids for engineering services for the four-block stretch of Eighth Street from Garfield Street to County Line Road.

"Eighth Street is kind of the last poor street we have in the village," Trustee Neale Byrnes said at Tuesday's board meeting. "When we get that one done in 2021, we'll be in pretty good shape."

The plan is to replace the concrete with asphalt, which Trustee Laurel Haarlow questioned.

"With Eighth Street being the thoroughfare it is, shouldn't we consider concrete? That's what it is now and has been for as long as I can remember," Haarlow said.

Others noted asphalt is far cheaper than concrete, yet acknowledged concrete lasts much longer.

"One of the biggest determinants on how long a road lasts is how much heavy truck traffic there is," Village President Tom Cauley said. "Streets like Garfield and Madison have a lot more heavy truck traffic."

Haarlow said Eighth gets plenty of truck traffic.

"I walk in that neighborhood almost every day. There are a lot of construction trucks in and out of there. Of course, we know that's temporary. It's just that there continues to be turnover in that neighborhood with reconstruction and teardowns. You end up with a lot of truck traffic," she said.

The trustees approved an engineering firm for the project, saying they could look at the concrete issue later. They chose Geneva-based Rempe-Sharpe and Associates for the engineering services. It was the second lowest bidder.

The lowest bidder was Schaumburg-based GSG Consultants, which came in about half of Rempe-Sharpe's bid. The village rejected that bid because it did not include enough observation hours, officials said.

"It's way, way low. It's not going to meet the requirements," Byrnes said.

In 2022, the village plans to reconstruct Garfield from 55th street to the train tracks with concrete, Byrnes said.