Peace Road widening, bridge work could cost DeKalb County $7M

SYCAMORE – A new bridge and a wider roadway could be in store for future travelers along Peace Road in Sycamore, according to the DeKalb County Highway Department.

On Thursday, the DeKalb County Board highway committee met with DeKalb County Engineer Nathan Schwartz and discussed how the county will pay for the project, which will widen the roadway and replace a bridge along Peace Road north of Route 64, and south of Freed Road in Sycamore.

The project was estimated to cost $7.4 million, according to county documents. Schwartz said he estimates the cost to be closer to $7 million. While speaking to the highway committee, he said the department received bids just under his estimate, and that the county won’t have to fund the project without help from state funding.

Schwartz, who runs the county’s highway department, said he anticipates the county will need to pay for about 42.8% of the project’s total costs. That’s because Motor Fuel Tax and Rebuild Illinois Bond funding will contribute $4 million to the cause, he said.

“We’ve been saving that up for this Peace Road bridge project,” Schwartz said. “The last of our RBI funds is going to be $1.2 million, is going to be on this Peace Road project. And then $2.7 million is going to be just our regular MFT, our regular gas tax. And the rest of the money is going to be local property taxes.”

Because those funds come from state coffers, Schwartz said the county has to tell the Illinois Department of Transportation how they intend to use those funds. The highway committee, which serves an advisory role to the DeKalb County Board, unanimously voted to recommend the County Board approve the expenditure of the state funds allocated to the county for the project.

The County Board hasn’t yet voted.

At the beginning of the committee meeting, while Schwartz was explaining how his department finds ways to pay for projects through state and federal funding, committee vice chair Mary Cozad, a Democrat from District 10, said she was inspired by their ability to get grant funding.

“It’s kind of impressive, the extra money the county manages to get for highways from the state and other places,” Cozad said.

Committee chair Savannah Ilenikhena, a Republican from District 5, concurred, and directed the credit toward Schwartz.

“That’s all Nathan,” Ilenikhena said. “His team as well.”

Schwartz said the county received five bids ranging in cost from $6.99 million to $8.3 million, but the winning bid wasn’t in a class of its own. Bids with totals of $7.2 million, $7.3 million and $7.5 million also were submitted to the county.

“So you know that these all are pretty good bids when they’re that close together,” Schwartz said. “My estimate of cost was $7 million, that’s what I put in the budget book, and it came in at $6.99 [million], so I’m really happy that I nailed it.”

The winning bid for the project was submitted by Rockford-based construction company Sjostrom & Sons Inc. In a voice vote, the committee unanimously recommended that the county board authorize the construction contract for the project.

Schwartz said the project wouldn’t be the first partnership between the company and DeKalb County.

“This is a contractor that has done a lot of work for us before,” he said. “In 2024, they did a box culvert and a bridge. They’ll be able to handle it. They will probably sub the road work to one of our local contractors like Curran [Contracting] or somebody like that, and they’ll focus on the bridge. They’ll do a fine job, they do good quality work. I have no concerns with this.”