February 23, 2025
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Work on Route 47 set to begin after final negotiations between Yorkville, IDOT

Yorkville will bear more costs for Route 47 intersection maintenance

By Joey Weslo
2012: Crews demolished the Muellner building at the southwestcorner of Route 47 and Van Emmon Street in downtown Yorkville. The adjacent wall also came down to make room for a four-lane highway. (Shaw Media file photo)

Yorkville city officials have negotiated with the Illinois Dep. of Transportation costs related to the expansion and widening of Route 47. Pictured, the last time Route 47 was widened in Yorkville in 2012 crews demolished the Muellner building at the southwest corner of Route 47 and Van Emmon Street in the downtown area.

The price to pay to alleviate traffic congestion along Route 47 just became a little more expensive for Yorkville.

In negotiations between the city and the Illinois Department of Transportation, IDOT has refused to cover two parts of the Route 47 expansion project that Yorkville city officials argued should not fall under their responsibility.

“At this point, I think we’ve challenged them enough, they’ve shown different documents to us at a staff level, and we’re comfortable recommending approval, because I don’t think that there’s a way around it,” city administrator Bart Olson said at the Feb. 11 city council meeting.

The city council unanimously approved the agreement between the city and IDOT, officially relenting on the two points of contention.

The infrastructure improvements will expand the Route 47 corridor from Kennedy Road in Yorkville out to Cross Street in Sugar Grove. IDOT is involved in all parts of the project, including widening the intersections at Route 47 and Galena Road to improve traffic flow.

Once completed, Route 47 will be widened and expanded, and will feature pathways and bridges more accessible to pedestrians.

The points of contention between the city and the state regarded who should be responsible for the ownership maintenance, and who should provide funding for the culvert and the bridge at Baseline Road and Route 47.

The bridge and intersection at Baseline Road and Route 47 are scheduled to be completely reconstructed, with the bridge becoming more user-friendly, and the intersection becoming much wider for travelers.

“The city had initially objected to the ownership and maintenance of that culvert, because the culvert is going to be integral to the intersection design,” Olson said. “We’ve tried to tell IDOT we don’t think we should have to maintain or pay for that long-term, but they have not relented.”

IDOT said the reasons for its denial include precedents set in other jurisdictions in which the cost and the responsibility ended up being on the municipality, according to city documents.

The city also lost its point over who should be responsible for the energy costs and maintenance costs for the Galena Road and Route 47 intersection signal. IDOT said costs for energy and maintenance long-term is the responsibility of the municipal jurisdiction, according to city documents.