Shorewood assumes control over portion of Black Road
By Clare Walters For The Herald-News September 13, 2012 8:08AM
Updated: October 18, 2012 6:06AM
SHOREWOOD — The village of Shorewood is taking over a portion of Black Road previously under the county’s authority.
The village board Tuesday unanimously approved the jurisdictional transfer of approximately 1 mile of Black Road from Route 59 east to the west edge of Interstate 55. It also — in a separate resolution — approved the transfer of Black Road’s bridge over the DuPage River.
Mayor Richard Chapman said the village has been working with Will County and the city of Joliet on the transfer of the road in the couple of years since village officials decided to purchase a two million-gallon sewage capacity from Joliet instead of building its own wastewater treatment facility.
That decision is expected the save the village millions of dollars over the next two decades.
The transfer of ownership of Black Road was needed in order for Joliet — which will assume a portion of Black Road east of I-55 — to expand its sanitary sewer system from which Shorewood will benefit. Joliet needs to install a sewer line under the road, Chapman said.
“It’s an agreement where all parties won,” he said. “Nobody came out a loser on this.”
Shorewood will become responsible for general maintenance of the roadway, but maintenance of the bridge will become a shared responsibility after the county funds a re-decking project in the next three to five years, Chapman said.
“That’s a major job that will put the bridge in very good shape for us to take it over,” he said.
Any major maintenance required on the bridge beyond that point will be paid 50 percent from the county, 25 percent from Joliet and 25 percent from Shorewood, if there are no federal funds available for the needed projects.
“There are lots of arms and legs to it,” Chapman said of the agreement. “It puts us in great shape for not just the short term, but the long term. This was an excellent deal for all parties concerned.”
