Streets

The Streets Division, a part of the Public Works Department, oversees the maintenance and upkeep of 125 miles of public roads within the city limits. This network comprises 79 miles of asphalt streets, 28 miles of oil & chip streets, 1000 feet of brick streets, and 18 miles of concrete streets. Performed using a combination of in-house crews and private contracts, street maintenance activities include, but are not limited to:

• Road repairs such as asphalt overlays, road patches, pothole repairs, and sealing cracks.
• Pavement Striping of road surfaces, parking lots, pedestrian crossing, and bike lanes.
• Maintaining city rights-of-way by performing service calls to assist residents with various drainage problems, removing and trimming trees, mowing, and cleaning and re-grading ditches.
• Street sweeping approximately 116 miles of curb and gutter roads.
• Repairing and maintaining 80 miles of sidewalk
• Maintaining 30 traffic signals: all regulatory, warning, work zone, and school signs: and all decorative streetlights in the downtown area.
• Ensuring roads are cleared after a winter storm, thunderstorm, or other weather event.

Many of these preventative maintenance activities are paid for by the Motor Fuel Tax funds that the city receives from the State of Illinois.  These funds are collected on each gallon of gasoline sold in Illinois and are meant to fund certain road maintenance activities.