LaSalle County adopts 2026 one-year highway plan, appropriates MFT funds and approves multiple bridge-engineering contracts

LaSalle County Board on Nov. 3 adopted the countys 2026 one-year highway improvement plan, approved appropriation of motor fuel tax (MFT) funds, and authorized several professional engineering agreements to inspect and analyze bridges in the county and on township roads.

County Engineer (identified in the transcript as Mister Erna) described the one-year program as including cape sealing and microsurfacing projects, resurfacing of multiple county highways, shoulder aggregate work, and engineering for widening and shoulder additions on selected segments to improve bicycle accommodations. The presented program included resurfacing and shoulder work on County Highways 3, 9, 21, 29 and 34, planning for County Highway 34 widening near Deep Bennett Road, and several bridge- and culvert-replacement projects.

The board approved resolution 25-24 (2026 improvement plan) after discussion; the transcript records a single recorded nay on that vote. Separately, the board approved resolution 25-25 to appropriate $1,970,000 in motor fuel tax funds for maintenance and pavement programs for the Dec. 1, 2025 through Nov. 30, 2026 period; roll call was 23 ayes, 1 nay. County staff explained the appropriation supports cape seal, microsurfacing, shoulders and maintainer payment.

The board also authorized professional-services agreements: Willett Hoffman & Associates for biennial township bridge inspections and county bridge load-rating analysis (resolution 25-26), Chastain & Associates for preliminary engineering on two culvert replacements (25-27), Hutchinson Engineering for replacement work on East Nineteenth Road (25-28), and Willett Hoffman for a bridge replacement on East Thirteenth Road (25-29). Those items passed by roll call; two engineering resolutions drew single recorded nays on separate items and one had two recorded nays.

County staff noted the bridge-inspection work is required by the Federal Highway Administration and the Illinois Department of Transportation and that bridge-load ratings are used to set and enforce oversized-load restrictions. The board recorded funding sources as township motor fuel tax for township inspections and the county bridge fund for county load-rating and replacement engineering work.

Provenance: Road program introduced at 00:14:17; MFT appropriation discussed at 00:18:52; bridge inspection and engineering contract discussions at 00:22:31 and thereafter.