Committee consolidates seven engineering items; approves placing Central Tri‑State change orders and construction awards on April board agenda

The Planning and Development Oversight Committee of the Toll Highway Authority, Illinois State voted April 17 to consolidate seven engineering items for consideration and to place them on the full board agenda for April.

Chief Engineering Officer Bernard presented seven engineering items: the first three were systemwide repair and facility contracts and the final four were associated with the Central Tri‑State Tollway Corridor and the I‑290/I‑88 interchange reconstruction.

Items summarized by staff included: - Item 1: Construction contract award for pavement and structural rehabilitation on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I‑90) between East Riverside Boulevard and Garden Prairie Road. The transcript lists the low bidder as “F. H. Passion, S. N. Nielsen and Associates” and states the low bid was below estimate; the exact dollar amount was not clearly recorded in the meeting transcript. - Item 2: Construction contract award for pavement and structural rehabilitation on I‑90 between Garden Prairie Road and Randall Road; low bidder listed as Ploti Construction, low bid recorded as $11,671,000. - Item 3: Construction contract award for facility improvements at the central warehouse, sign shop and the M‑14 maintenance facility in Downers Grove; award recommended to George Sallet Construction Company, low bid $9,087,495. - Item 4: Construction change order/extra work order of $16,500,000 on contract I214836 to Walsh Construction Company for acceleration and recovery work on the I‑290/I‑88 interchange contract (part of a $327,000,000+ contract), intended to relieve congestion and keep the project on schedule. - Item 5: Construction change order/extra work order of $8,650,000 on contract I204533 to Jude Law Contracting to address scheduled recovery efforts and coordination with Union Pacific Railroad near its intermodal yard in Northlake; the project includes work on bridges over active freight lines and requires railroad approvals. - Item 6: Professional services supplement not to exceed $3,000,000 to H.R. Green Inc. for extended construction management services on the Central Tri‑State contracts. - Item 7: Professional services supplement not to exceed $1,800,000 to Lakeside Engineers LLC for additional design services (intelligent transportation system and fiber design) after a partnering consultant closed its business.

Staff described the Central Tri‑State work as complex and subject to constraints including ComEd transmission towers, billboards, multiple railroad lines, the Eisenhower Expressway and nearby local roads and properties. Director Sweeney noted that one interchange carries roughly 300,000 vehicles per day with about 18% truck traffic, which staff said underscores the importance of minimizing construction delay for commerce and safety.

Committee members asked questions about reasons for schedule slips, bid competitiveness and how to communicate outcomes to system users. One member suggested packaging summary findings for legislators, local officials and Tollway customers.

The committee took two formal actions by voice vote: it approved consolidating engineering items 1 through 7 for committee consideration and it approved placing engineering items 1 through 7 on the full board agenda for the April board meeting. Both motions passed; the meeting record shows voice votes of “aye” with no recorded opposition. The committee did not award final construction contracts at this meeting; staff recommended awards and change orders be forwarded to the full board for action.