The Engineering Planning and Development Oversight Committee voted to consolidate and advance nine engineering contract awards for placement on the full board agenda, Chief Engineering Officer Menard said during the meeting.

The contracts include construction, design and goods-and-services agreements across multiple tollway corridors. “The bids for both contracts were competitive,” Menard said, describing the small-business set-aside landscaping awards; he said the low bidder for both was Cardinal State LLC. He also noted that K5 Construction Corporation submitted the low bid for a plaza-conversion contract and “has committed to meet the DBE and veteran goals for this contract.”

The committee’s action matters because several awards fund conversion of toll plazas to a barrier-free system and other rehabilitation work that the tollway said will improve traffic flow and reduce long-term maintenance costs. The plaza conversions are part of the Move Illinois program and the seven-year Bridging the Future capital program, which Menard identified as a funding source for tier‑2 plaza work.

Most significant awards presented by Menard and approved for placement on the board agenda were:
- A construction contract to K5 Construction Corporation for plaza improvements on the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I‑88) between Winfield Road and Highland Avenue, low bid $21,678,730.01; the work covers conversion of three plazas and is the seventh of nine contracts in the tier‑1 plaza program. Menard said the low bid was within 3% of estimates. K5 committed to meet DBE and veteran goals.
- A design services award to Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. for roadway and bridge rehabilitation on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I‑90) from Rockton Road to the Kishwaukee River, $8,715,058.94; the scope is based on recent inspections and planned rehabilitation for that section of roadway. Crawford, Murphy & Tilly committed to exceed DBE goals and meet veteran goals and proposed a new subconsultant and a mentoring arrangement to support a local firm.
- Design services awards for tier‑2 plaza work: Singh and Associates, $6,229,950.80 (North Tri‑State Tollway between Willow Road and the Waukegan Toll Plaza, design at five plazas); and The Roderick Group (doing business as Ardmore Roderick), $4,970,000.00 (design at plazas on I‑88 and I‑355). Both firms committed to DBE and veteran goal targets.
- Two small-business set-aside construction contracts for landscaping on the Central Tri-State Tollway: award recommendations to Cardinal State LLC — $987,695.83 (between 90 Fifth Street and I‑55) and $1,072,855.00 (between I‑55 and Plainfield Road). Menard said Cardinal State used bid credits to maintain the low bid on the second contract.
- A goods-and-services contract to MD Solutions, Inc. for aluminum extrusions used by the tollway sign shop, not to exceed $1,221,782.50; MD Solutions has committed to exceed BEP goals.
- Two emergency contract awards: up to $2,000,000 to Lorig Construction Company for emergency bridge repairs on I‑88 at Illinois Route 83 in Oak Brook after a truck-hauling excavator struck the bridge, and up to $2,300,000 to F.H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen/LeMay (as presented) for emergency overhead plaza canopy removal on the Tri‑State Tollway at Cermak Road following an inspection. Menard said the bridge-repair costs “will be tracked and the risk department will pursue the recovery of those costs, based on the actual costs for the construction.”

Committee members moved to consider engineering items 1 through 9 as a consolidated group and, following a voice vote, approved placement of the consolidated engineering items on the full board agenda for the next meeting. The committee did not amend contract awards at the meeting; motions to consolidate and to place the items on the full board agenda carried on voice votes with no recorded roll-call breakdown.

The engineering items touched multiple corridors and program lines, including Move Illinois and the Bridging the Future capital program, and included goals for disadvantaged-business-enterprise (DBE), veteran‑owned, and business-enterprise program (BEP) participation that presenters said contractors had committed to meet or exceed. The committee’s action was procedural: the awards were recommended for the board’s consideration rather than being executed at the committee level.

Next steps: the nine engineering items will appear on the tollway board meeting agenda for formal action.