The Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees on Wednesday heard another report from Village Engineer Kaitlin Wright on the short-term repair and long-term replacement of the currently closed Hemstock Road bridge.
The bridge was closed by the Illinois Department of Transportation in mid-October. In July, Ogle County inspected the bridge and found that its load rating declined sharply, from a 7 to a 4. After seeing those numbers, IDOT inspected the bridge in October and determined the steel piles that support it had deteriorated and that it should be closed. The bridge is owned by the Village of Hillcrest. Baxter & Woodman inspected the bridge on Nov. 6 and found that all eight steel piles are corroded, with two severely corroded and no longer supporting the bridge.
Wright said during last month’s meeting that a short-term repair to open the bridge this year has been estimated by one contractor to cost $85,000. The village has not yet taken action on a short-term repair. Corroded parts of the two failing steel piles would be removed and then encased in concrete. That work would not take place until spring at the soonest due to weather conditions for pouring concrete.
The 50-year-old bridge will require a long-term, full-scale replacement. Wright and village officials have discussed pursuing federal funding for 80% of that project’s cost, which Wright has estimated in the past to cost $500,000-$700,000. Federal funds for the full replacement may not be available until as early as 2028, Wright said last month.
On Wednesday, Wright said the engineering phase of the full replacement will be “incredibly expensive” and “upwards of six figures” if the village takes the federally funded route. She said that development turned her attention to seeking out what costs and timelines would be if the village funded the project itself.
“My gut feeling is you’re going to spend probably 50 percent of your construction costs on engineering,” Wright said. “I don’t know if that’s the route you want to go. I asked our team for costs on both routes.”
Forgoing federal funding may move up the timeline for the full replacement, which may make a short-term repair unnecessary, Wright said.
“I want you to have the opportunity to assess if you want to forgo repairing it and keep it closed a little longer and replace it fully instead of spending those funds twice,” Wright told village officials Wednesday.
Wright said she plans to present cost figures on both funding routes to village officials at or before Hillcrest’s March meeting.
Water system
Wright said that next month she will be providing the board with funding nomination forms to request Illinois Environmental Protection Agency acknowledgement of a past water system improvement plan for potential future funding for a new well, water treatment plant and elevated tank for Hillcrest.
The village has been in need of those improvements to eventually meet IEPA requirements following a recent nitrate level violation with one of its current wells.
The village would abandon its current well with the nitrate issue. Hillcrest currently has two wells.
Chip seal
The board unanimously approved a resolution for its 2026 chip seal program. Wright said the entire Windover Park subdivision, Maple Avenue, Oak Avenue, Errett Road from Linda Avenue to Maple Avenue, and Hillcrest’s portion of Bethel Road will be chip sealed.
The total estimate for the work is $85,640.