The village of Orland Park is using nearly $1 million in Rebuild Illinois funding to restore and resurface portions of village roads to their former luster.
Village Manager George Koczwara on August 3 said the village received $927,000 in Illinois motor fuel tax money to resurface (blacktop) streets in sections of the village that include: 80th Avenue from 143rd Street to Binford Drive; West Avenue from 143rd to 151st streets and El Cameno Real, Cordova Court and La Reina streets.
“This was a one-time grant the state made available to municipalities after increasing its motor fuel tax,” Koczwara said. “We’ve allocated the money to repair the streets and provide residents in those areas with smooth roads.”
The Rebuild Illinois grant had arrived months earlier, a thick packet of state funding meant to help communities repair, rebuild and modernize their infrastructure. Orland Park had debated how to use it — water mains, sidewalks, stormwater improvements — but the streets kept speaking the loudest.
Rebuild Illinois is meant to create economic opportunity and improve infrastructure while enhancing safety and quality of life throughout the state.
Trustee Cynthia Nelson-Katsenes said the village selected 143rd Street – one of its busiest east-west corridors whose surface had grown tired under years of commuter traffic – to restore, not just repave.
“This is what partnership with the state can do,” she said. “This is what investment looks like.”
Crews will mill the old asphalt, reinforce the base, improve drainage and lay down a fresh surface designed to last decades.
