Channahon and Minooka High Board may split cost of traffic signals
By Jeanne Millsap For The Herald-News September 7, 2012 2:58PM
Updated: September 9, 2012 9:23PM
CHANNAHON — Should the high school board approve the intergovernmental agreement, the village of Channahon and the Minooka High School District will split the cost of maintaining the new traffic signals on Route 6 at the district’s south campus.
It originally was thought that the Illinois Department of Transportation would share the maintenance expense with the school district, but according to Ed Dolezal, Channahon’s director of public works, the state will not enter into the agreement because the light is for the “benefit of a single entity.”
The traffic signal is long-anticipated, especially by residents who live in adjacent neighborhoods. Although the campus is freshman/sophomore, there are enough 10th-graders who get their driver’s licenses during the school year to cause problems in the Hunters Crossing subdivision to the east.
The high school board would not allow student parking in the school’s lot because, according to former Superintendent David Middleton, entering and exiting the lot onto Route 6 with no traffic signal would be dangerous for the students.
Channahon Trustee Debbie Militello last week questioned why the village should contribute to the signal maintenance costs at all.
“Why do we have to pay for any of it?” she asked. “It’s one more thing the school will not pay its fair share for, in my opinion.”
The agreement did pass the vote, and the village and school district will split the maintenance costs 50-50. The total cost is estimated at an average of $200 per month.
