The Village of Campton Hills board on June 26 approved a roadway resurfacing bid package and discussed carving out a small set of streets that may require different work because of persistent shading and drainage.

“Part of the charm and attractiveness of that neighborhood is the large growth old trees, but they do shade in the winter and then even in the summer, it does not dry out because there is so much shade,” a village staff/engineer identified as Scott said about Woodridge and Steeple. He said trimming to improve drying “could be very problematic to do and very expensive to prune it without destroying that canopy.”

Scott said staff and the highway district will examine drainage and vegetation conditions and that the stretched timeline and bidding strategy should allow the board to remove or select roads after bids return. “I think we can show the cost when we get the bids back and the board, as we've said before, you're gonna decide if we're gonna spend 700 or 800 or $8.50 upon return of the bid bridal,” Scott said, noting the board will determine which roads to keep if costs exceed the budget.

The roads called out by trustees are in Plato Township, just north of McDonald Road and east of Route 47. Scott described the village’s process for selecting roads: an objective analysis using RoadBotics, an AI-based roadway condition assessment, combined with input from the highway district and on-the-ground observations. "We have, 2 times now, 4 years apart, utilized a, it's an AI based, artificial intelligence based analysis of roadway condition," Scott said. The AI drives and cameras each roadway segment and ranks segments for repair; the village then groups logical areas for bidding.

Trustees expressed concern that commingling the uniquely shaded Woodridge-Steeple segments with the general program could increase unit prices for the whole contract; several trustees said they would rather treat those segments separately if the technical review indicated different materials or approaches were required. The board approved the consent agenda (with 4C pulled for separate consideration) and later carried the motion on item 4C by roll call.

Next steps: staff will inspect drainage and vegetation with the highway district, the board will review returned bids and may select or deselect streets based on final costs, and staff will present detailed bid amounts when available.