Council OKs engineering contract for Waukegan–Wesley reconstruction; federal grant covers large share of work

Lake Forest’s City Council unanimously authorized construction engineering for the Waukegan and Wesley intersection reconstruction project and heard details on schedule, bids and utility coordination.

Superintendent Byron Coutts told the council the project is a full intersection rebuild to add turn lanes, update signals, improve drainage and widen pavement. The city has secured $2,600,000 in federal grant funding routed through the Illinois Department of Transportation, Coutts said, and the base construction bid came in at $3,663,000 against a budgeted $3,600,000; the city’s available budget of $3,960,000 supports an 8% contingency.

Coutts said private utilities (ComEd, Comcast, Exinet, AT&T, North Shore Gas and MCI) must be relocated before substantial work and that staff is coordinating field meetings and resident notices. He identified the tentative low bidder as D Land Construction and described a probable contractor mobilization in March after IDOT completes its award process.

Council members asked about utility disruption and whether one lane per direction would be maintained. Coutts said the intent is to keep one lane open in each direction, with lane closures staged as standard practice for this type of intersection. He also summarized nondestructive testing on an existing 14-inch water main as “fair” overall with two more deteriorated spots; staff plans to address a 10–20-foot segment near a valve as part of the project through a change order or separate contract if necessary.

The council approved the construction engineering contract to Gewalt Hamilton Associates Inc. for $378,875 with a $19,125 contingency (total $398,000) on a roll-call vote of seven ayes, zero nays.