Lake County Gazette

The Vernon Hills Village Board recently received an update on an ongoing street construction project.

During the Nov. 15 board meeting, Director of Design Services for Civil Tech Engineering Jon Vana discussed a project in the county that has been in the works since 2018. The project would widen and resurface Lakeview Parkway at Route 60 and Hawthorn Parkway as these two intersections are very close together and experience a lot of traffic and congestion.

The plans for the project have received final approvals by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and will be sent off for bidding in January of 2023 providing that the last parcel is acquired before December. There is one parcel of land that is still in negotiations of final language in the agreement, and if it is not finalized soon enough the project will have to go to IDOT bids in March instead.

"DOT has multiple [bid] lettings throughout the year and depending on the project, it's ideal to target certain ones versus others," Vana told the board.

Letting is the process of receiving bids prior to any award of a Construction contract for any portion of a project.

 "January's is a good thing to target because contractors are trying to filter their dockets for the year and get busy," Vana said. "But then there's still enough interest and capacity in the industry to provide plenty of interest for the March letting. So it's really just you're delayed by a couple of months with the January letting, you would be able to start maybe a little bit sooner, assuming the weather cooperates."

The project is currently 80% funded by federal funds and grants, which leaves 20% of funding to the village. Agreements on these numbers should be approved and ready for the village board to sign at their December meeting. With all this in place the project should take place and be completed by the end of the 2023 summer construction season.