August 02, 2025
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Yorkville OKs deal with Kendall County for Fox Road upgrade

City and county to evenly split the $600,000 cost for road project

By Mark Foster
Fox Street, which passes directly in front of the Kendall County Office Building in downtown Yorkville, is to be resurfaced. The street will become a designed Kendall County highway under a deal between the city and county. (Mark Foster -- mfoster@shawmedia.com)

Fox Street, which passes directly in front of the Kendall County Office Building in downtown Yorkville, is to be resurfaced. The street will become a designed Kendall County highway under a deal between the city and county. (Mark Foster - mfoster@shawmedia.com)

YORKVILLE – A Yorkville city street is about to become a Kendall County road, under a deal between the city and county to resurface a mile of the thoroughfare.

The Kendall County Highway Department will resurface the stretch of Fox Street that extends from Route 47 in the city’s downtown west to the Fox Lawn subdivision.

The Yorkville City Council on March 8 approved an intergovernmental agreement that will allow the project to go forward. Construction is expected to begin in April.

Under the deal, the city and the county will evenly split the $600,000 cost for the construction work.

Kendall County Highway Engineer Fran Klaas said the resurfacing will cover 11-foot-wide vehicle lanes for the two-lane roadway, as well as 3-foot-wide asphalt safety shoulders.

Klaas said there also will be some curb and gutter work, as well as installation of a sidewalk on the north side of Fox Road from Morgan Street to White Oak Way.

Once complete, Kendall County would own the roadway and would maintain the pavement, pavement markings, signage, and any existing curb and gutter, according to Yorkville Public Works Director Eric Dhuse.

The city will continue to maintain the street lighting along the road and the traffic signal at the intersection of Fox and Route 47, Dhuse said.

The agreement constitutes a good deal for the city, Dhuse said.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to have another agency lead a road rehabilitation project, install sidewalk, replace signage and striping, pay for half the project, and then take over responsibility and maintenance of the roadway forever,” Dhuse said.

“If we were to keep ownership of the roadway, we would need to pay for the entire improvement and maintain it in perpetuity,” Dhuse added. “This project gets our residents a new roadway at half the cost with none of the ongoing maintenance costs.”

Fox Road starts as a downtown Yorkville city street and then becomes a county highway after the west leg of the roadway bends to the southwest.

The road extends into unincorporated Kendall Township, passing the Hoover Forest Preserve. It finally takes a sharp dogleg before entering the Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area, where it terminates near the Fox River.

While the road will not become a designated bike route, the paved shoulders included in the project are expected to make Fox Road safer for the bicyclists who use the thoroughfare, Klaas said.

Dhuse said the transfer of the roadway to the county’s jurisdiction will bring the ownership arrangement into compliance with common practice.

“For unknown reasons, this section of Fox Road has been owned and maintained by the city throughout the years as land was annexed,” Dhuse said. “Normally, county highways begin and end at other county highways or state highways. This keeps the ownership and maintenance of these roads very clean and easy to discern.”