Belleville alley resurfacing stops abruptly due to material shortage
Belleville officials had planned to oil and chip every alley in the city this month, but a contractor ran out of materials before resurfacing those on the east side, likely postponing the project’s completion until next year.
Jason Poole, director of public works, gave the update at a recent meeting of the City Council’s Streets and Grades Committee. He later said the contractor had started on the west side on Sept. 8 and worked east, resurfacing about 80% of the city’s alleys.
It’s not unusual for contractors to run out of oil or rock chips on such projects because estimates for needed materials can’t take into account all possible factors, according to Poole. In this case, the work stopped Sept. 12 around Lucinda Avenue, near the MetroLink tracks.
“It wasn’t intentional,” Poole said. “That’s just the way it played out.”
The public works department has spent $470,909 on the project, Poole said. Unless other funds become available this year, workers will start next year where they left off and resurface the remaining alleys.
Ward 1 Alderwoman Lillian Schneider estimated that 20 alleys in her ward, northeast of downtown Belleville, didn’t get resurfaced. She questioned how the material estimate could have been so far off, forcing work to stop before a significant part of the project was completed.
“Something’s not right,” she said.
Schneider also criticized the public works department for allegedly not keeping residents or alderpersons informed.
The city had posted signs around neighborhoods, announcing that alleys would be oiled and chipped Sept. 8-16 and temporarily prohibiting parking. The signs were later removed.
Schneider said officials should have made a public announcement when they realized some alleys wouldn’t get resurfaced. She said she didn’t find out until the Sept. 15 committee meeting, after some residents asked her about it. She described them as “mad.”
“You have to communicate with the people,” Schneider said. “You have to tell them what’s going on.”
The Streets and Grades Committee meeting got tense, according to attendees. Schneider said Ward 6 Alderwoman Mary Stiehl told her she was being disrespectful to Poole, and Ward 3 Alderman Kent Randle, the committee chair, cut off debate abruptly.
Randle said later that anyone who took time to listen to a meeting recording would understand why.
“It was starting to appear to me that it was no longer a fruitful discussion,” he said. “I understand the disappointment (about the alley resurfacing), I really do, and if I could wave a magic wand and make it all better, that would be great.
“But I’m there as the chairman. My job is to keep the meeting moving forward according to the agenda and make sure we’re acting in a professional capacity and try to be fair to all parties, and that includes staff.”
Belleville has about 300 alleys, according to a description of the oil-and-chip project on the city’s website. Poole said it’s been eight to 13 years since most were resurfaced.
That’s partly due to a change in Illinois Department of Transportation specifications that require equipment not possessed by local contractors who regularly bid on city jobs, Poole said. Belleville ultimately went with different specifications.
The city contracted with Lochmueller Group, which has a Belleville office, to plan the alley project and develop the material estimate. The resurfacing was done by DMS Contracting in Mascoutah.
City Engineer Scott Saeger couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Poole said city officials are investigating whether other funds could be made available for the project, but there’s a good chance it may not be completed until next year.
“(The public works department is) working within the confines of a budget, and we also have to save some material dollars to buy salt this winter and that kind of thing,” he said. “We don’t want to use all our dollars on oil.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Alderwoman Mary Stiehl’s name.
This story was originally published September 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
