Hoffman Estates hires contractor to survey roads for 2014 street project

A contract approved by the village board Monday night allows Hoffman Estates employees to focus on finishing the reconstruction of Hassell Road while an outside firm provides workers to survey areas that will be included in the newly expanded 2014 and 2015 street projects.

The board unanimously approved a contract with Marchris Engineering of Schaumburg in an amount not to exceed $24,400 to survey streets in the 2014 project and streets that could be potentially reconstructed in 2015.

“This is just a means to accelerate the data collection,” said Mike Hankey, director of transportation. “We’re going to be busy with Hassell Road. This will enable them to get data collected before the end of the year and to start the design process in the spring.”

Village staff said snow cover makes surveying impossible. Village workers, however, will be busy with the Hassell Road project until January or February, when there could be snow.

Additionally, the information from surveying needs to be gathered in the winter so the design of the 2014 street project can be ready for a late spring bid.

Last month, the village approved four new taxes and a new fee that will allow for $4 million to $5 million to be spent each year on roadwork — an increase from the current $1.2 million that is spent on roads annually.