Utility work delayed Army Trail project

Q. I see that the road construction project near Army Trail Road and Bloomingdale Road in Glendale Heights didn't get finished by the end of November last year as was promised. Is there a lot more work to be done?

-- S. G., Glendale Heights

A. The project you're referring to is the Army Trail Road project from Schmale Road east to Bloomingdale Road in Bloomingdale and Glendale Heights, and includes Bloomingdale Road from Brandon Drive in Glendale Heights north to Greenway Drive in Bloomingdale.

Kent Kruper, Principal Civil Engineer with the Division of Transportation at DuPage County, confirms the project was indeed originally scheduled to be completed by November 2007.

"The utility companies -- electricity, phone, natural gas -- were supposed to move their lines prior to the start of construction in March 2007," Kruper said.

"That didn't happen, and because many utility lines were not moved in a timely manner, that caused many delays and a need to re-design the project at different points as it went along."

Even with the utilities in the way, the contractor was able to complete the main storm sewers and all the road-widening that needed to be done just before paving the last layer of asphalt.

"In March or April, the contractor will start working again to finish the retaining walls, guardrails, sidewalks, traffic signals and raised medians before putting down the final layer of asphalt," said Kruper.

"There is at least three months of work left to be completed, so the project should be substantially complete in June or July of this year."

To keep up on the status of the project, or any of the county's road construction projects, visit www.dupageco.org, and scroll down the page to the Road Construction Project hyperlink.

The county's division of transportation can be reached at (630) 407-6900.