SAVOY – Savoy and Champaign are hoping to annex their way out of a dispute with Champaign Township over who has jurisdiction over Curtis Road.

Township officials a month ago told village and city officials that they were withholding approval for improving a ¾-mile stretch of Curtis Road between Prospect and Mattis avenues unless they got concessions on other issues of concern to the township.

Champaign Township has jurisdiction over Curtis in this area, which is not part of Savoy or Champaign, and the surprise notice threatened to put a halt to a planned $11 million project.

The project, now under way, calls for widening Curtis to four and five lanes between Wesley Avenue in Savoy and Wynstone Drive in Champaign. It is expected to take two years, with this year's work occurring between Wesley and Mattis.

The contractor, Stark Excavating of Bloomington, still has about four to six weeks' worth of work to finish in Savoy before it will get to the disputed section of Curtis, according to Lou Braghini, a city resident engineer.

Savoy and Champaign officials say they're now pursuing annexation agreements as a way to get control of the section of Curtis between Mattis and Prospect.

Savoy officials continue to negotiate with Adolph and Renee Lo about possibly annexing several tracts of land they own that would give the village jurisdiction over the disputed portions of Curtis.

"We're still in discussions," said village Manager Dick Helton.

But, privately, some officials say the negotiations with the Los haven't gone well, and they're giving serious consideration to a second option: having Champaign County transfer ownership of the Curtis Road right of way to Savoy before the project begins.

"The county did buy right of way (on both sides of Curtis Road) and we're looking at that," Helton said. "Typically, the county would transfer ownership at the end of the project to the appropriate municipality. We may move that transfer up, if we have to, to get this done."

Legal staff for Savoy, Champaign and Champaign County have researched the issue and believe such a transfer would give Savoy legal jurisdiction over Curtis Road and allow the project to proceed, he said.

The county owns about 150 feet of right of way that encompasses both sides of the current Curtis Road, according to Roland White, Champaign's city engineer.

Meanwhile, Champaign is having success with its annexation strategy.

The Champaign Plan Commission will consider at 4 p.m. today a signed agreement between the city and Opal Gilliland to annex 40 acres at the northwest corner of Curtis and Mattis.

The annexation agreement, which could be voted on by the city council at its May 19 meeting, will give the city jurisdiction over a 600-foot stretch of Mattis that the city intends to improve as part of the Curtis Road project, according to White.

The improvement to Mattis, and the intersection of Mattis and Curtis, is scheduled to take place next year, he said.

Champaign Township Supervisor John Schmidt said this week that he hasn't been contacted by Savoy or Champaign officials about his desire to negotiate on other issues in return for surrendering jurisdiction of Curtis Road.

Schmidt has said he would like to see an agreement reached with the city of Champaign where, if the city annexes a township property, it would remain in Champaign Township and not automatically become a part of City of Champaign Township.

But Schmidt also said he won't be upset if Savoy and Champaign resort to annexation.

"They should have done it a year ago," he said.