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Village engineer: IDOT approves Route 251 median reconstruction; bids may extend work south
Summary
Village Engineer Chris Dobkins told the Machesney Park Village Board that IDOT approved plans to reconstruct medians on Route 251 between Harlem Road and Roosevelt Road and that bids could allow the project to extend farther south and include replacement of aging HMA.
Village Engineer Chris Dobkins told the Machesney Park Village Board at its May 2025 meeting that the Illinois Department of Transportation has approved plans to reconstruct the center medians on Route 251 between Harlem Road and Roosevelt Road.
Dobkins said the engineering team “did receive IDOT approval of the plans for the reconstruction of the medians along 251 between Harlem and Roosevelt.” He added that when engineers ran opinions of probable cost, the village might be able to push the project slightly further south depending on how bids come in: “we have a chance to perhaps bring that project a little further south. When we ran the opinions of cost, we think that perhaps we can get a little bit further south of Harlem Road and replace some of the HMA that's in those medians.”
Dobkins noted the existing material is more than two decades old: “Hard to believe those are over 20 years old. We did those in 02/2001.” He said the extent of additional work would depend on bid results, which the village will review when received.
No formal motions or votes on the project were taken at the meeting. Dobkins’ remarks were delivered as part of the village engineer’s report and indicate the next steps are finalizing bid documents and reviewing bids once they are opened.
The transcript did not specify a construction schedule, estimated contract value, or a target bid opening date.
