The Cook County Transportation and Highways Committee approved an omnibus package of transportation grants, improvement resolutions and engineering contracts during the meeting.
DOTH Superintendent Cice Killen described the items in the package. Highlights included a $500,000 grant for design engineering on the Burnham Multimodal connector bridge (item 260336), a $5,000,000 IDOT local project award for construction improvements along a 2 E Avenue corridor (item 260337), and an $800,000 grant for preliminary and environmental engineering to extend the Central Des Plaines River Trail (item 260338).
The department also described a $6,441,650 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) supplemental award for corridor improvements (item 260454); an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of Bedford Park to lead construction/engineering for sidewalk gaps along Archer Road (item 260407); and a $300,000 appropriation for extension of the Des Plaines River Trail covering several suburbs and the forest preserves (item 260493).
DOTH presented three contracts for preliminary engineering services (items 260501, 260502, 260503) with firms named in the record: HR Green Inc. (Aurora), Kimley-Horn and Associates (Chicago), and Pearl Clark LLC (Arlington Heights). The department also described a contract with GFT Infrastructure for preliminary engineering and environmental services on the Berry Point Road bridge replacement (item 260505) and accompanying resolution appropriating $1,900,000 for that project (item 260521). A separate resolution sought $1,500,000 for preliminary engineering on Lake Cook Road bridge-deck replacement (item 260522).
Clerk roll-call votes were taken on the omnibus package. The clerk reported successive tallies as votes were added or adjusted; after reconciliation the clerk reported 14 ayes and 3 absent and declared the items approved.
What this means: the approvals authorize DOTH to accept grants, execute contracts and proceed with preliminary engineering and appropriation steps described by staff. Several contract amounts were not specified in the spoken description and will be formalized in written agenda documents.