Public Works

Road Rehabilitation

For the past ten years, the Village has aggressively pursued Surface Transportation Program (STP) Grants to fund our road plan. The grants are federal funds managed by the State of Illinois through the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, allocated locally by the McHenry County Council of Mayors and funneled through the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).

The procedures for STP grants require the Village to meet stringent guidelines including a commitment to pay 20% of the total cost, plus the cost of engineering. That is generally about $250,000 - $300,000 annually or about one third of our annual budget. CMAP, as regional planning council, has developed regional requirements such as inclusion of multi-modal means of transportation that incorporate bicycle and pedestrian use, and incorporation of Green Infrastructure elements in road project plans.

Past STP grants were used to resurface Bull Valley Road, County Club Road, Crystal Springs Road, and Mason Hill Road. We have already been approved for STP funding for Queen Anne Road in 2026, and North Thompson Road in 2028. We have only one road left that is STP eligible and that is Ridge Road.

Unfortunately some of our most deteriorated roads are not eligible for the Federal Surface Transportation Program, including local subdivision roads and Valley Hill Road. Valley Hill Road is a three-mile road with an estimated repair cost of between $1.6 and $1.8 mm in today’s dollars. This equals about 6 years of Bull Valley’s average road resurfacing budget. We are continually challenged to finance major repairs on these roads.

In between STP grant years we have used the funds not allocated to the 20% match to resurface local roads including Blackberry Drive (complete rehabilitation), Cherry Valley Road (a three-year project), parts of Valley Hill Road, and parts of Cold Springs Road. We try to spread our dollars out the best we can by doing the worst parts of a given road first. Targeting the most deteriorated portions of a road, rather than trying to do the whole road, maximizes the distance we are able to resurface and is the most economical use of our limited funds.

As always, when making decisions on road work, we are guided by our long-range improvement plan, and other factors such as amount of traffic, number of residents, and affordability of the necessary improvement. We have approximately 30 miles of road to maintain, and not enough households paying taxes to provide the necessary level of road upkeep and maintenance.

We continue to explore alternative ways to finance these much needed road improvements, including intergovernmental cooperation with townships and alternative road treatments.

Road Maintenance: Patching, Mowing and Snow Plowing

During the summer months you will see the Village Road Crew out filling potholes and patching. During increasingly severe and frequent storm events, the crew is frequently called out in the middle of the night to clear fallen trees and branches. Mowing continues into the fall. Roadside branches and low overhanging limbs are cut back to provide clearance for the snow plow trucks.

We are seeking volunteers to help with mowing at the Stickney House lawn, and the Still Farm Dog Park. We have an industrial mower with a 60” deck and other equipment and fuel available if you are willing and able. We currently have only one loyal volunteers who does the whole park, but ideally will find two or even three more so we don’t wear out any one. We appreciate the spirit of volunteerism in this Village and do not want to abuse it.