Mount Prospect takes another step forward on $7 million pedestrian bridge
Mount Prospect's plan to build a $7 million bicycle and pedestrian bridge spanning Northwest Highway and the Union Pacific railroad tracks - connecting Meadows to Melas parks - has taken a significant step forward.
The village board hired engineering consultant Ciorba Group Inc. at a cost of $725,716 for work that includes creating bridge designs, preparing engineering plans and drafting bid documents.
About $413,920 of that money will come from the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program, with another $145,143 from the village's Capital Improvements Fund. The rest is expected through federal sources.
Village officials said Ciorba's experience, which includes work on pedestrian bridges in Des Plaines and Schaumburg, makes it a good fit for the project.
Officials say the bridge would provide a safe and more convenient path across Northwest Highway between parks and other destinations for Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights residents, especially Prospect High School students who cross the railroad tracks and busy highway on their way to and from campus.
The village already has completed a feasibility study and received preapproval from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Union Pacific railroad.
Mount Prospect Public Works Director Sean Dorsey said the village has secured about $5 million for the bridge, including about $3 million in federal funds and $2 million from the Surface Transportation Program administered by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.
The village still needs to find another $600,000.
"We are confident that we can, as we move along, as we refine the design and refine the cost estimates ... improve our ability to get grant funding for this project and, if need be, ask for more," Dorsey told the village board.
Among Ciorba's tasks will be looking at other bridge designs. The village received feedback that the single-span steel truss design initially proposed is not visually appealing.
Board members expressed appreciation for the grants, but Trustee Augie Filippone said he is concerned about how much money is going to come from the village's coffers.
"When we do this engineering, we've got to figure out what the ask is of our taxpayers at the end of the day," Filippone said.