Daily Herald opinion: Concrete concerns: A lawsuit raises concerning questions regarding the tollway’s management of the I-490 project

As we enter the patience-shredding slog of Illinois’ construction season, the contractor behind one major ongoing project is already sending up flares about “extreme” delays and a mounting tab.

And officials there blame both woes on the Illinois tollway.

As our Marni Pyke reported this week, a lawsuit filed last Friday in DuPage County court contends Judlau Contracting Inc. has incurred $29 million in damages in its work on the 1-490 corridor, a massive interstate project that involves building a toll road near the west side of O’Hare International Airport that’s designed to link to I-294 and I-90.

The location has provided challenges, but so have the tollway’s actions — and inaction — the lawsuit alleges.

The tollway has refused comment, citing the litigation. That means it’s a pretty one-sided narrative thus far.

Judlau argues, among other things, that the tollway failed to get the required easements and right-of-way permissions for two different projects: a new $21 million Union Pacific Railroad bridge and a $37.8 million retaining wall.

The 13-month building time frame for the bridge “turned out to be wildly untrue,” when Judlau learned the tollway did not have permission to access UP property or move utilities, the lawsuit says. That, added to revisions, meant it would be 777 days before the work could begin, according to the company.

Another 514 days of delays, according to Judlau, were because tollway officials did not obtain right-of-way and easements from Chicago when it came to building the retaining wall from the Canadian Pacific Railway Bensenville yard to Irving Park Road.

“The tollway dragged its feet for years and was non-responsive to Judlau’s concerns. All the while, Judlau was forced to bear the mounting financial burden at its own cost,” attorneys argue.

Judlau threatened to sue the tollway last year over issues with the construction contract, leading to a $19 million settlement. with the tollway already paying $9.6 million. But the lawsuit says the tollway hasn’t turned over the rest and other expenses cropped up.

As a result, Judlau wants the court to negate the earlier agreement and the tollway to pay $29 million.

The tollway’s version of the construction saga may be quite different, and the public deserves to hear it.

After all, this is the second time in two years that Judlau has sued the tollway over a contract. In 2024, the firm won about $10 million in damages on yet another project.

Even if the litigation is causing the tollway to hold its tongue for now regarding public comment, the allegations are concerning and require a deep dive to determine what went wrong and what part agency missteps or delays played in driving up costs for the public. If the agency truly “dragged its feet for years,” officials need to let the public know why and what, if anything, is in place to prevent it from happening again.

Costly delays go hand-in-hand with road construction. There are hurdles to clear, challenges with materials and, of course, the roadblocks Mother Nature throws up from time to time. But if tollway failures were the driving force behind the extra time and money, the public deserves to know how — and why.