The pedestrian bridge that serves a gateway to downtown Oswego is in need of replacement.

“In 2017-2018, what we were finding is concrete and pieces of the bridge actually falling into the Fox River for the underside of the structure,” Oswegoland Park District Executive Director Tom Betsinger said in addressing state legislators during a legislative breakfast at Oswego Village Hall Jan. 25. “That bridge has more than lived its useful life a couple of times. It needs replacement. It truly does.”

The Park District was among several taxing bodies at the breakfast discussing their funding priorities. The bridge, which connects to the popular Hudson Crossing Park in downtown Oswego, has a long history in the community.

Beginning in the early summer of 1900, the Aurora Elgin & Chicago interurban trolley line crossed the Fox River on a steel bridge supported by limestone piers dating back to shortly after the Civil War. The Illinois Department of Transportation replaced the trolley bridge with an automobile bridge in 1994.

The old bridge was renovated and preserved by the Oswegoland Park District as a bicycle and pedestrian bridge, with the project partially funded by a state grant.

Replacing the bridge is expected to cost between $3 million and $4 million, Betsinger said. The Park District in 2026 plans to apply for a Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant to help pay for the project.

Grants are awarded up to $3 million with a 20% local match. Before applying for the grant, the Park District would need preliminary engineering done, which is estimated to cost $300,000.

The Park District is seeking state funds to cover the preliminary engineering cost. That in turn would allow the district to work on another project, like replacing a playground.

The district operates 66 parks. Oswegoland Park District serves about 60,000 people and its boundaries extend beyond Oswego.

“As someone who uses downtown Oswego quite a bit, I’m happy to do whatever I can to support it,” said state Rep. Matt Hanson, D-Montgomery, following Betsinger’s presentation.

He asked Betsinger if the Park District has a long laundry list of things that need to be fixed.

“Like every other agency, there’s so much more to do than we have the funding and the staff to do,” Betsinger said. “This is just one of those little pieces of that.”

Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman said the village would like to work with the Park District on replacing the pedestrian bridge. In addition, he said the village has hopes of a boutique hotel locating near the Fox River.

“A nice walkway would connect the hotel site with our downtown,” Kauffman said.

Improvements to intersection of Route 30 and Wolfs Crossing

Oswego village officials are looking for money to help fund an estimated $20 million in improvements to the intersection of Route 30 and Wolfs Crossing, including traffic signal improvements. The project also would expand Route 30 to four lanes with dedicated left turn lanes and expand Wolfs Crossing from Devon Drive to Eola Road to four lanes with dedicated left and right turn lanes at Route 30.

Village officials are asking that $15 million for the project be included in the Illinois Department of Transportation’s highway improvement plan. More than 16,000 vehicles pass through the intersection every day, which is in IDOT’s jurisdiction.

“That intersection is really rough,” Oswego Public Works Director and Village Engineer Jennifer Hughes said. “We have a lot of accidents there and quite honestly, a lot of commercial development that would naturally go at that intersection has really shied away from building because of the geometrics.”

Hughes said Route 30 is a regional road, serving not only Oswego, but also Montgomery, Aurora and Plainfield. Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo and other village officials are hopeful the improvements will spur development.

“We believe once the state actually does come in here and improve this intersection that we will have pretty quickly thereafter some commercial development right around the corner,” he said. “We’re hopeful for a grocery store and some inline retail that will serve all these thousands of residents that are coming to live here on Wolfs Crossing.”

The village would contribute $5 million for the project. Village officials would like to get the backing of state legislators for the project.

Proposal to amend the Downstate Forest Preserve Act to allow forest preserve districts extend sales taxes of up to 1% by referendum

Kendall County officials would like state legislators to sponsor an amendment to the Downstate Forest Preserve Act to allow forest preserve districts to extend sales taxes of up to 1% by referendum. The act currently does not allow forest preserve districts to collect sales taxes.

Kendall County Board Chairman Matt Kellogg said between the property tax cap and high interest rates, the forest preserve district can’t financially keep up with its needs.

“We can’t keep up to pay our staff, we can’t keep up to take care of buildings, let alone open up a lot of these properties,” he said. “Some of these big properties we acquired we can’t get public access to because we don’t have funding.”

The district has a current operating budget of $1.4 million.

“Plans to convert land currently in agriculture production to public open space, at a cost of approximately $5,000 per acre, further strain the district’s budget,” according to a document presented at the legislative breakfast.

The district’s unrestricted capital funds of $500,000 are expected to be depleted by 2026, the document states. Kellogg said it is his goal to eliminate property taxes.

“People who have been here forever shouldn’t be paying for the forest preserves that people from other counties are coming to use,” he said. “If they’re coming here to buy gas and do those other things, it helps us fund what we want to do and what we want to have. We want to have those high level, destination forest preserve locations for people. And there’s no way we can do that with just a property tax. It’s impossible to do without something like this.”

State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, voiced her appreciation for having the taxing bodies participating in the legislative breakfast.

“I think we can best help you when we know exactly what it is that you need,” Holmes said.