How Taylor Avenue tunnel could be 'great improvement' in Glen Ellyn
The Taylor Avenue tunnel in a Glen Ellyn neighborhood near Glenbard West High School is one way to sidestep train traffic downtown.
But it's a tight squeeze. Cars move one way beneath Union Pacific railroad tracks, sharing the space with pedestrians who walk single-file on a 3-foot-wide path. It's so narrow that firefighters have to act as spotters to guide fire trucks between the rough walls.
The village's answer to all that is one step closer to reality. Engineers have designed a tube - essentially, a steel pipe - that would be built directly east of the existing underpass. There, pedestrians and bicyclists would be able to safely bypass the tracks away from vehicles.
"This is going to be a great improvement," said Bob Minix, the village's professional engineer.
The path in the current tunnel, meanwhile, would be removed and the pavement widened to allow traffic to maneuver more easily.
"By removing the sidewalk and enhancing the clearance, fire trucks can enter more rapidly without spotters," Village President Alex Demos said.
The estimated cost of construction was $2.6 million, but trustees this week asked if a second connection to the Illinois Prairie Path could be cut out of the project. Minix said he's checking with engineering consultants and other agencies and plans to bring more information back to the board in early January.
Then the board could approve a second phase of an engineering study by Alfred Benesch & Co. Trustees on Monday informally tabled a $187,500 agreement with the firm that would have included services to design the retaining walls and link to the Prairie Path.
To build those elements of the project could cost roughly $300,000, Minix said. Now, pedestrians and bicyclists traveling south under the tracks cross Taylor and then head west to get to the Prairie Path.
The second phase of the study will take about eight months and build on the results of the first, which is almost complete, Minix said. Under the current concept - initially OK'd by Union Pacific - the project would span Willis Street to the north and Walnut Street to the south. At the intersection of Taylor and the tracks, the steel casing pipe with a 14-foot-wide diameter would be installed. A 10-foot-wide path inside also would be illuminated.
The lion's share - 80 percent - of the construction costs will be covered by a federal grant, up to a $2.3 million cap. The village must bid out the work by fall 2020 to use the grant, but "there's really no question that we want to get this project built as quickly as we can," Minix said.
The village hopes to start construction in early 2017.