DeKALB – DeKalb city officials recently gave updates on possible further delayed bridge replacement work on Lucinda Avenue and the city’s tentative plans for a fourth fire station in Ward 6 at a public meeting hosted by Ward 6 Alderman Mike Verbic.

6th Ward Alderman Mike Verbic held his second of what he said is typically three ward meetings for the year recently at the DeKalb Police Department offering an informal venue to meet and discuss city issues with residents.

Discussion also centered on a concept which proposes to build a roundabout near Northern Illinois University and plans to build a fourth fire station on the city’s southwest side. Both developments would exist partly in Ward 6, according to the city’s ward maps.

City Manager Bill Nicklas, City Engineer Zac Gill and Fire Chief Mike Thomas also attended.

Verbic said he believes the ward meeting was well timed as projects evolve in the planning and development stages.

“This is great timing because of all of the things we’re talking about at the council level for Ward Six,” Verbic said. “It’s unusual, impactful the kinds of projects. We’re talking about fire service into our distant future, and a main artery road through campus where people have been accustomed to traveling Normal Road, from Lucinda [Avenue] to Lincoln Highway. So, I really felt that this opportunity was important for people to able to hear more.”

Bridge work update

Staff gave an update on the Lucinda Avenue bridge replacement project, one of two bridge replacements ongoing this summer. Construction work for the North First Street bridge resumed in July after city staff said utility delays caused the completion timeline.

Lucinda Avenue bridge work could been delayed further, as city staff now weigh whether to reopen the bridge and start the work again in the spring 2024.

About a half hour in to discussion, however, a heated moment between a DeKalb resident and City Manager Bill Nicklas nearly halted the meeting. DeKalb resident Derek Van Buer told Nicklas to “shut up for once,” after city staff gave an update on the bridge replacement. Nicklas left the meeting shortly after, although public discussion continued.

Van Buer in the past has frequently sounded off with criticism of the city, where his father, Frank Van Buer, served as mayor from 2005 to 2008. The younger Van Buer ran a failed write-in candidate bid for Ward 5 in the April election, losing against incumbent Scott McAdams. During his campaign, Van Buer also led an unsuccessful attempt to have McAdams removed from the ballot. Van Buer garnered only 50 votes to McAdams’ 363 votes.

The Lucinda Bridge replacement project was originally expected to be completed in the fall, officials said. But those plans didn’t materialize according to plan.

Gill said the city is in the middle of working through utility conflicts.

The work performed on the Lucinda Avenue bridge was intended to be delayed by at least another six weeks from the date in which crews resumed their activities on the First Street bridge, officials said.

Gill said the city is now weighing if it should reopen the Lucinda Avenue bridge and resume work in the spring. The North First Street bridge replacement is still expected to be complete in October.

“We’re at a point now where we have to make a decision of do we continue to initiate the demolition and risk being at a standstill when weather impedes us? Or do we make the decision to reopen the bridge for the winter months to allow that traffic to make the rest of it safe?” Gill said. “We are looking to see here if these utilities do not come through in a more meaningful way than they have in the next week or two, it is time to return that bridge to the public. Let the utilities continue to work through the fall and into the winter and be 100% out of our way and hit the ground running in the spring and knock it out.”

Gill said the budgetary impact of such a decision would be little to none.

“With that, we wouldn’t have too many penalties on that because they essentially have independent work on First Street,” Gill said. “One of the things that I was happy to get cooperation from the state was combining them into a single contract, a double bridge replacement. That saved us about $600,000 by doing that. So, we came in significantly even under the state allotment for the project. At this point, if we have to continue this year and get it done, I think it would be negligible what we would see in difference.”

Roundabout near NIU?

The DeKalb City Council approved a measure in July to allow for new traffic signs and temporary barriers near NIU along Normal Road to better promote pedestrian and vehicular safety.

The area in question is where a concept for a roundabout is proposed by the city for construction.

Gill said the traffic measure would have a proven track record of promoting pedestrian and vehicular safety near NIU campus.

“One thing about a roundabout obviously in this part of the state, of the country, they are newer, so to speak,” Gill said. “Our neighbors in Wisconsin and Indiana have gazillions of them, including all of their campuses.”

The final design of a roundabout concept near NIU along Normal Road, between West Locust Street and Lucinda Avenue, has not yet been finalized.

Verbic said the City Council is unanimous in its support of a roundabout concept.

When asked by a resident about a roundabout’s potential impact on police response times, Gill said there “will not be a depreciable delay in back-up responding” to calls for service on Normal Road.

Fourth fire station talks

Discussion shifted to potential plans to a build a fourth fire station on South Malta Road along the city’s southwest side, a plan that Thomas said would resolve a lot of the simultaneous calls for service that first responders receive.

The fire department is trending toward 1,000 calls for service a year, officials said.

City staff have estimated the cost to finance a new station is a little more than $4 million, officials said. One such way the city could pay for the new fire station out of pocket is by earning 5% interest on cash deposited in Illinois Funds managed by the Illinois State Treasurer, according to city documents.

The city would like the fourth station to be move-in ready by 2025, according to city documents.