Paving Silver Beach Road is back in discussion stage

The Village of Belgium’s Public Works Committee will discuss paving Silver Beach Road on Thursday, Sept. 7, albeit this time the situation is different.

After holding off for decades on paving the roughly one-mile stretch of road that leads into the village’s industrial park due to cost and other projects taking precedence — including the reconstruction of Main Street a few years ago — now the village only has about 900 feet of gravel road to address.

The Town of Belgium got a nearly $700,000 grant from the state to rebuild and pave its portion of the road from Highway LL west to the railroad tracks, and that work has started. Rebuilding the road is slated to be done this month, and paving is scheduled to be done in phases this fall and next spring. The town pays for anything beyond the grant award, which is expected to be around $300,000.

The village, which several times during the past few decades considered annexing Silver Beach Road from the town and doing the entire project, had run into a host of issues, including land acquisition, the location of a retention pond and the cost of the work pushing the village too close to its debt limit.

The Chamber of Commerce urged the village to do the project, as did the late Trustee Clem Gottsacker, who said he talked to businesses in the industrial park that would expand if the road got paved.

Truck drivers don’t want to travel on gravel roads so those coming off I-43 head down Main Street and approach the industrial park from the west instead.

A committee to examine the issue was formed in 2020 but stopped meeting in 2021 when it was determined the project would move the village too close to its debt limit.

With the town rebuilding and paving its portion, cost estimates have changed.

“The railroad crossing was done several years ago by the village, which leaves a short section of about 900 feet from the railroad crossing to the pavement in the industrial park,” Village Treasurer Vickie Boehnlein said.

“I believe this section needs to be raised and a culvert put in to prevent flooding.”

She said Public Works Director Dan Birenbaum is checking on what it would cost to finish paving the road.

The committee may make a recommendation to the Village Board to pave the road.

The meeting begins at 5 p.m. at Village Hall.