Higher cost won’t delay long-sought Deerfield Road improvement project
Tree clearing and other advance work is set to begin for the long-sought reconstruction of Deerfield Road in southern Lake County.
Anticipated to take more than two years to complete, rebuilding 3¹/₂ miles of Deerfield Road from Milwaukee Avenue (Route 21) to Saunders/Riverwoods Road and associated work is one of the more intricate projects on the Lake County Division of Transportation’s to-do list.
It likely also will be one of the more expensive, with the $64.6 million low bid well over the $50.7 million estimate.
Though additional grant funding is expected, the Lake County Board on Tuesday authorized a supplemental appropriation of $21 million to cover its share of the cost. The board in June appropriated $22 million for the project.
But with three federal grants worth about $29 million in hand and more expected, county money won’t “go out the door,” according to Shane Schneider, county engineer and LCDOT director.
“We’re very confident we’re going to get significant additional grant funding that will cover the majority of the additional cost,” he said.
Because bids were so much higher than estimated, the county had its consultant analyze them to see if they reflected the market price and whether to hold off and rebid the project at another time.
According to Schneider, factors cited by bidders included having to work and keep two-way traffic open in a “very constrained” work area; complexity of the repairs for the bridge over the Des Plaines River due to the presence of a 25-foot deep sanitary sewer nearby; and a “pretty major” intersection improvement on Milwaukee Avenue.
Space is tight because adding a third lane essentially will be done in the same footprint, Schneider said, and crews are “expecting to fight a lot of groundwater,” when replacing the sanitary sewer.
“So, after taking all those things into consideration (and) looking at other market factors with trucking costs and fuel costs and labor rates, we believe this is a fair market price for this project,” Schneider said.
The work consists of rebuilding Deerfield Road with added lanes at the Milwaukee Avenue intersection and a three-lane curbed roadway from the Des Plaines River to Saunders/Riverwoods, according to the project website.
A multiuse path and drainage improvements including a new storm sewer system, culverts, and roadside swales/ditches to convey stormwater also are planned. A new Lake County sanitary sewer and lift station will be installed and Riverwoods’ main water facilities will be relocated.
“This is a complex, multiyear construction effort, with next year primarily being utility work,” said Alex Carr, spokesperson for the division of transportation. “Road and multiuse path construction and the Des Plaines River bridge widening will primarily occur in 2028 and 2029.”
mzawislak@dailyherald.com