South Street project to start soon in Elgin
Work on the long-awaited South Street extension in Elgin is expected to start by the end of the month.
The Elgin City Council on Wednesday unanimously awarded a nearly $8 million bid to Copenhaver Construction of Gilberts for the 1.7-mile extension connecting South Street between Randall Road and Longcommon Parkway. Councilman Rich Dunne was absent.
The new portion of road will facilitate commercial development and reduce traffic gridlock to the west, city officials said.
"It's been a long time," Mayor David Kaptain said. "I'm glad to see the project finally getting done. It helps a lot of people."
The work is expected to be done by Thanksgiving 2016, City Engineer Joe Evers said.
Five contractors submitted bids; Copenhaver came in at $7,983,473 while the highest bid was just more than $13 million.
The entire project will cost about $8,750,000 including about $741,000 for construction administration and design provided by Engineering Enterprises Inc. of Sugar Grove.
The city is funding the project mostly with road and sewer impact fees along with funds collected from the developer of the Waterford subdivision, Evers said.
The work will include new storm and sanitary sewers, sidewalks, landscaped medians, lighting and more. An existing small, stand-alone portion of South Street on the north end of the Waterford subdivision will be incorporated into the extension.
Environmental permits for construction in the Otter Creek area expire in 2015. Evers said he hopes the Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will extend the permits, given that the work will begin this fall.