The Village of Oak Brook has recently sparked interest in developing more sidewalks throughout the Village, specifically within subdivisions controlled by home owners associations. The idea is to develop a shared cost program in which the Village and the home owners association split the costs of adding new sidewalks in subdivisions where they did not previously exist. Before the proposal can even be brought to the home owners association, the Village needed to create a rough design and calculate approximate costs so that further discussions can be had. In an effort to maximize cost and time efficiencies, Village engineers requested that the GIS department create a map displaying the locations of the proposed sidewalks, along with the approximate square yardage and costs for the entire project.

Using already existing driveway, parkway, parcel, and road data, the Village’s GIS specialist was able to design the layout of the proposed sidewalks to scale. And by using various GIS tools, a calculation of the total square yardage of concrete needed, as well as the total area of driveway and turf repair or replacement was developed. Then by using the current going rate of concrete, asphalt, sod and labor, the total cost of the sidewalks were calculated for the entire subdivision. By staying in-house and using the Village’s GIS, they were able to get this project done quick and efficiently in comparison to hiring an outside engineering consultant or drafting the design by hand. This was especially important when considering the project and design are not final and face the possibility of not being approved by the home owners association.