Cook County’s Summer Repair Schedule Adds More Roads & Bridge Projects

Lee Edwards | As of Thursday, June 26, 2014

John Yonan, Superintendent of the County’s Transportation and Highway Department: “The construction season is now in full swing, and these state funds will allow us to accelerate some of the projects we had previously identified for work at a later time. While this initial group of projects target suburban locations, we also are working with Commissioners and their aldermen in the City of Chicago to identify needs in their wards that we can address with this funding.” - John Yonan, Superintendent of the County’s Transportation and Highway Department
John Yonan, Superintendent of the County’s Transportation and Highway Department: “The construction season is now in full swing, and these state funds will allow us to accelerate some of the projects we had previously identified for work at a later time. While this initial group of projects target suburban locations, we also are working with Commissioners and their aldermen in the City of Chicago to identify needs in their wards that we can address with this funding.” - John Yonan, Superintendent of the County’s Transportation and Highway Department

Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways (CCDTH) has announced an updated list of construction projects slated for 2014 that will include street resurfacing and rehabilitation, and bridge repairs throughout various areas of the County.

The projects are funded $16.7 million in advance state money awarded recently to Cook County by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn via the Illinois Jobs Now! program and is in addition to the County’s larger road and bridge construction program.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in April announced the initial 2014 road and bridge menu, which will cost an estimated $38 million for projects in 24 Cook County communities and cover approximately 55 lane miles of roadway. These additional projects will involve work on another 12 lane miles.

“The construction season is now in full swing, and these state funds will allow us to accelerate some of the projects we had previously identified for work at a later time,” said John Yonan, Superintendent of the County’s Transportation and Highway Department. “While this initial group of projects target suburban locations, we also are working with Commissioners and their aldermen in the City of Chicago to identify needs in their wards that we can address with this funding.”

“These investments in infrastructure make it safer and more convenient to travel throughout Cook County but also to properly maintain the structures that people use and work in in Cook County,” said David Blanchette, a spokesman for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. “This is a very important investment because if we don’t put money into it now we will have to put more money into it in the future and the plus side is when we spend money to maintain or repair roadways or buildings it puts people to work and that means jobs and economic impact for the community.”

“To begin the projects, we have to finalize contracts and schedule pre-construction meetings with those impacted by the work -- communities, utilities, etc. In each case, once the appropriate steps are taken, it would be our intent to begin and complete these projects as soon as possible during this construction season. We hope to start many of them in August,” said Cook County Bureau of Administration Public Information Officer Frank Shuftan. “County projects have a 35% MWBE set-aside [for subcontracts].”

The updated list includes more than $850,000 in resurfacing projects, more than $1.3 million in pavement rehabilitation projects, and more than $200,000 in bridge repairs. Additional resurfacing projects include:

Techny Road in Northbrook, Sanders to Pfingsten;

Willow Road, Howard County/Lancaster Avenue to Schoenbeck Road, Arlington Heights;

Euclid Avenue, Meacham Road to Hicks Road, Rolling Meadows;

139th Street, Coopers Grove Road to Harrison Street, Blue Island.

Additional pavement rehabilitation projects include:

Joe Orr Road at State Street, Chicago Heights;

Winnetka Road at West Frontage Road, Northfield;

Lake Cook Road at Skokie Road, Northbrook;

Kedzie Ave, 135th Street to 139th Street.

Additional bridge repairs include:

Cottage Grove at North Creek, within the Forest Preserves of Cook County.

The County’s highway department, now the Department of Transportation and Highways, was established in 1913 with one mile of concrete road and two employees — the superintendent and his secretary. It was created by the State of Illinois to “pull the state out of the mud” and “build a system of hard roads for the state.” Today, the Department oversees 557 miles of roads and highways, 134 bridges, 351 traffic signals and seven pumping stations throughout Cook County.

For more information visit www.cookcountyil.gov.

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