Town Road resurfacing and left‑turn lane work may be delayed while FEMA permit remains pending, staff says

City staff told the West Chicago Infrastructure Committee on April 6 that a Town Road resurfacing and widening project could be delayed or staged because a stormwater permit from FEMA is required for culvert work in the floodway and that permit remains pending.

The project scope cited by staff includes resurfacing Town Road from Washington to Forest Avenue and reconstructing and widening the roadway from Forest Avenue down to Route 38 to add a left‑turn lane. "The stormwater permit is currently being held up because there's some work in the floodway and we need to get approval from FEMA," the staff member said, noting FEMA review was delayed because FEMA is not in session currently due to lack of federal funding and that the city had submitted a second round of materials in the first week of January.

Staff said some portions of the contract — notably surface resurfacing — are unimpacted and can proceed, but the underground headwall work and removal or replacement of the existing culvert cannot be started until FEMA issues the permit because such actions would change the floodway. The staff member explained that updated topography produced a modeling result in which the base flood elevation decreased while the mapped floodway footprint increased, which is why FEMA review remains necessary.

Because the general contractor on Town Road is also working on Fenton Lane and the 2026 roadway rehabilitation program, staff warned that splitting the underground work before the permit is secured could require the underground subcontractor to mobilize twice, potentially increasing cost and schedule risk. When a committee member asked whether a second mobilization would trigger a change order, staff responded that "this has gone through the IDOT process, right? This is the STTP funded project, so any change orders that we have, they will go through IDOT." That indicates state oversight of change‑order approvals for funded items.

Staff said the city hopes the federal appropriations situation will change when the Senate returns from recess so FEMA can clear its backlog; absent that, staff said they would evaluate alternate construction strategies that may leave some culvert tasks toward the end of the project timeline. The meeting record does not specify revised start or completion dates for the Town Road work.

The committee did not take a formal action on the Town Road item during this meeting; staff reported the update and responded to members' scheduling and procedural questions.