Barrington replacing 107-year-old water main

Barrington trustees Monday made the final decisions necessary for village staff to prepare for the timeline, bidding and public impacts of the replacement of a 107-year-old water main through the heart of the downtown.

The key decision was to allow night construction, in order to shave off a month of the time that the project's second phase will be an obstacle for both drivers and businesses next spring.

The chief concern about night construction was the noise that would have to be briefly endured by residents east of the Union Pacific railroad tracks on Lake-Cook Road downtown.

But it was found that there were only three residential properties along the stretch of road ending at Spring Street, and the one household able to be reached so far gave its blessing for the night work.

Barrington's Director of Engineering and Building Greg Summers said business owners in particular were eager for the night work. They want the disruption to their daytime customers to be as short as possible — now expected to be from mid-March to mid-May 2013.

The first phase of the project — from the railroad tracks west to Applebee Street — will be done from late August to mid-November of this year. But this first phase is not expected to affect businesses or Lake-Cook Road itself nearly as much as phase two.

Much of the water main work in phase one will occur on property off the roadway itself. The recent approval of a retail redevelopment plan for the southwest corner of Lake-Cook Road and Route 59 allowed the path of the new water main to be finalized, Summers said.

The total length of the affected area — from Applebee Street east to Station Street — is a third of a mile.

In terms of distance, about 75 percent is part of this year's phase. But in terms of the work required, both phases are nearly equal, Summers said.

As these final factors have been in flux, so too has the village's own estimate of how much the project should cost, he said. Bidding is in June.

The old 8-inch-wide water main will not be removed, but simply filled with fast-drying concrete afterward to keep it from collapsing. The new water main will be 12 inches in diameter.