Finance committee reviews 2026 CIP: dredging grant, lead-line funding, road and signal projects

Aurora — City public works staff gave the Finance Committee a wide-ranging review of the proposed 2026 Capital Improvement Program on Nov. 18, highlighting grant-funded environmental work, continued investment in lead service line replacements, and a string of road and signal projects scheduled across the next several years.

Jason Bauer of the Department of Public Works opened the presentation noting 2025 project completions and priorities for 2026. He said work completed in 2025 included Indian Trail improvements (Mitchell to Church) with federal highway safety funds and bicycle accommodations, signal modernization and resurfacing work done with an 80% federal/20% city funding split. "We did about 630 lead service lines," Bauer said when summarizing 2025 water-service work.

Key 2026 items Bauer singled out: - A $4,000,000 grant toward dredging and shoreline restoration at Mastodon Lake; staff expects to put the project to bid for spring 2026 work. - Continued lead-service-line replacement with $5,000,000 in dedicated city funds and approximately $2.5 million anticipated from the EPA, plus a $6,000,000 water-main program to add roughly 3–4 miles of main depending on pipe size and construction complexity. - An annual resurfacing program budgeted around $11,300,000 with a 2026 target of about 35 lane miles, in addition to federal resurfacing projects. - Multiple road and signal projects, including widening and signal upgrades (Farnsworth widening near Bilter/Church), the North Aurora underpass program (anticipated completion by 2028), and signal modernization along Indian Trail and other corridors. Bauer said several projects require coordination with state agencies such as IDOT and with rail owners like BNSF.

Bauer also described nonroad projects: a near-complete combined maintenance facility, downtown streetscape and ADA improvements, a new well (Well 105) expected online in 2026, greenhouse and irrigation improvements downtown, and planned work at the combined sewer overflow treatment facility with design and construction in 2026.

Alderman Keith Larson asked several clarifying questions: Bauer confirmed the Orchard Road noise-barrier entry should not list an SSA (no SSA established), the Fox Valley Park District was not contributing to the Gilman Trail crossing because the crossing is in the city right-of-way, and the GB175 roadway safety funding is intended to be flexible to respond to opportunities including cooperation with the state. On whether the $5,000,000 annual lead-line figure should be adjusted for inflation, Bauer said staff will review numbers prior to the 2027 budget given possible federal program changes.

What’s next: staff expect to move many projects into design in 2026 and into construction in 2027–2028 depending on federal/state approvals and permitting.