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Committee approves assessments for traffic-calming and resurfacing projects after residents raise safety and cost concerns
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Summary
The Public Works Committee approved File 241992, authorizing traffic-calming raised crosswalks on North Holly Road and North 50th Street and a resurfacing project on West Vine Street, after public testimony pressing the city to fix existing street lights and explain per-property assessment costs.
The Public Works Committee approved File 241992 after a public hearing in which residents questioned levied assessments and pressed the Department of Public Works to prioritize existing maintenance.
Holly Rutenbeck of the Department of Public Works explained assessment procedures and billing: property owners will receive a bill after project completion and may pay in full within a 45-day interest-free period. If unpaid after 45 days, simple interest of 9.5% per year applies. Assessments of $125 or more may be paid over 10 years on the tax roll at 9.5% interest. Rutenbeck said projects approved at the meeting include traffic-calming measures and pavement work at multiple locations and that bills for projects approved with late billing will not be sent before Jan. 1, 2027.
At the public hearing, resident Jared Ramick of 1835 North 50th Street opposed the raised-crosswalk portion of the Holly Road project. Ramick said he supported maintenance of existing infrastructure before new construction and said a street light near the proposed crosswalks had been out 11 days in March. “I would prefer the Department of Public Works to focus on, maintaining and repairing the infrastructure that's already in place, before we go starting any new construction projects,” Ramick told the committee.
Patricia Schomerhorn, who lives at 1822 North 50th Street and owns a rental at 1828 North 50th Street, also opposed the project partly because of frequent outages of street lights on the block and because she considered the estimated assessment excessive; the official notice to property owners states costs are specific to each property. Schomerhorn said similar projects in other areas had lower per-property assessments and that the proposed per-property amount she received was about $360.
Rutenbeck provided project details for the raised-crosswalk plan: two colored-concrete raised crosswalks with signage and pavement markings, designed to be ADA compliant, are estimated to cost about $100,000 in total for the two crossings, though contractor bids were still pending. She said individual property assessments are computed from the project’s estimated cost and the frontage of affected properties and that DPW can provide the project plans and the cost breakdowns to residents who ask.
Out of 79 impacted properties for the Holly Road/50th Street work, DPW recorded five formal objections; the Washington Heights Neighborhood Association and the alderwoman for the district supported the project. During the same hearing the committee also approved an asphalt resurfacing and curb-and-gutter replacement project on West Vine Street from North 53rd Street to North 60th Street; out of 32 impacted properties five were opposed and the alderwoman supported that project.
Alderman Bob Baumann moved adoption of the file; there were no objections on the committee and the motion carried.
Clarifying details provided at the hearing included the $100,000 estimate for two raised crosswalks, the DPW’s assessment billing rules (45-day payment window; 9.5% simple interest if late; 10-year tax-roll payment option for assessments of $125 or more) and that DPW would follow up on street-lighting complaints with the street-lighting group.
The committee approved the projects to proceed; implementation steps include contacting property owners with final bills after project completion and scheduling construction once contractor bids are secured.
