When the Illinois Department of Transportation announced its $8.4 billion, six-year plan to improve Illinois highways last week, it included $63 million for a Longmeadow Parkway project that has been in the planning stages for the past 25 years.

Kane County Transportation Director Carl Schoedel said seeing “Longmeadow Parkway” in black-and-white print is a good thing.

“It’s a positive story simply because it is showing up in the IDOT program, which is an indication that it’s something that will move forward in the next five years,” he said. “It’s kind of a signal that we’re now moving out of the planning and engineering phases and into a phase with construction being imminent.”

The $62.76 million worth of Longmeadow Parkway projects in the recently-released FY 2016-2021 Proposed Highway Improvement Plan underline a $40 million funding commitment to the Longmeadow Parkway project that the state made in June 2014 along with federal and local funding.

The Longmeadow Parkway plan includes construction of a new bridge over the Fox River, but that is just one part of the 5.6-mile roadway corridor that will connect three state routes — IL Route 25, IL Route 31 and IL Route 62 — and Randall Road.

Some people have suggested that the recent state-funding commitment might make it possible for Kane County to abandon a previous plan to charge a toll to drivers who use the bridge, but Schoedel said that discussion is premature.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said. “This $40 million that we’ve been talking about is a commitment from IDOT that’s just been expressed in the last year. In 2009, when we were looking at the toll bridge as a concept, that ($40 million) wasn’t even in the picture. The important thing to understand is that every dollar we get is a dollar less we have to spend in local funds — including the tolls.”

Schoedel said even the most preliminary construction work probably wouldn’t start until 2016 and that the project likely would be managed in bite-size chunks.

KDOT Assistant Director of Transportation Steve Coffinbargar said the first segment of the Longmeadow Parkway bridge corridor would be let in fall 2015, meaning that the county would start the process of open bidding for construction work.

A summary of the possible construction contracts, funding sources and a very general schedule is as follows. Schoedel and Coffinbargar both emphasized that the four “sections” probably would be subdivided into smaller projects and that the timing is subject to change.

Section A – Huntley/Boyer Road to West of Randall Road

Huntley/Boyer Road to West of Randall Road is fully funded by federal and local funds for construction. Local funds pay for construction engineering, and “Section A” is fully funded within IDOT’s FY2016 Annual Program in the newly published FY16-FY21 HIP.

Bid letting is targeted for the fall of 2015 — probably sometime between September and November — with the bulk of construction to occur during 2016 and possibly into 2017, depending on the weather.

 

Section B – Randall to IL Route 31

The segment of the parkway corridor from Randall Road to IL Route 31 is dependent upon right-of-way acquisition and permitting. IDOT’s HIP document commits to full funding for construction and construction engineering.

“We may let the LMP at the Randall Road intersection as a stand-alone contract or may package it together as a segment project to include a portion of the roadway from Randall Road to IL Route 31,” Coffinbargar said. “All options being considered are fully funded, using a mix of federal, state and local funds.”

KDOT is targeting an initial construction letting in 2016.

Section C — East of IL 31 to East of IL 25

The funding package for the segment of the corridor east of IL Route 31 to east of IL Route 25 is being assembled. Contract plans, right-of-way acquisition and permitting are still on the to-do list. Again, IDOT published its funding commitment for construction and construction engineering in the HIP.

This segment includes construction of the new Fox River toll bridge and adjacent toll-collection facility, Coffinbargar said. The county will use an all-electronic toll-collection system compatible with I-Pass/E-Z Pass.

“The remainder of the corridor will not be tolled, and will be accessible by the public at several signalized and unsignalized intersections on both sides of the Fox River,” Coffinbargar said.

Construction letting is targeted for 2017/2018, dependent upon right-of-way acquisition, permitting and a County Board decision to sell bonds to fund the local share of the construction costs — which is estimated at $40 million to $50 million. KDOT staff continues to explore additional funding sources, and as additional federal or other funds are secured, the local share and bond amount needed will decrease, Coffinbargar said.

Section D – East of IL 25 to IL 62 and along IL 62

“Construction limits (staging) and letting dates for the three remaining construction contracts (Sections B, C and D) likely will change as the project proceeds forward,” Coffinbargar said.

Additional information is available on KDOT’s Longmeadow Parkway webpage.  KDOT’s website includes a video depicting the new Fox River Bridge and a portion of the corridor, which is embedded at the top of this article, as well.

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