By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
Plainfield has a long list of road projects slated for development or construction in the coming year.
On Sept. 24, the Committee of the Whole took a closer look at the capital budget for the village’s public works department.
At the top of the list for 2019 – road projects. Namely, the 143rd Street extension.
Public Works Supervisor Randall Jessen said the village will make some adjustments to the plans for phase one of the easterly extension of 143rd, set to create a downtown bypass by connecting 143rd from where it dead ends at Route 126 along the ComEd easement to the intersection of Route 59 and U.S. 30.
The extension is set to fill a missing gap in the regional roadway, creating what the village calls a “logical connection” between Route 126 and Route 59.
“We are working with ComEd, there’s been a slight realignment,” Jessen said. “One of the positives with the realignment is that the environmental impacts have dropped off significantly, so they’re relatively negligible.”
Jessen said the realignment will move slightly north, which could help with environmental impact concerns about the roadway.
Some of the aspects of phase one of the project, which already has approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), will have to be altered. However, the village will not have to resubmit their phase one plans. In order for phase two activities to be eligible for federal funding, staff said the village will press pause and amend the phase one proposal. Once that is “re-approved” the village can continue with phase two.
Staff began setting milestone goals for the project, including a timeline for bid, groundbreaking, and completion. Amending phase one is expected to take nine to 12 months. Staff noted, however, that event with phase one adjustments, the overall timeline remains on track.
“We’re looking for this project to be pretty much ready to go within three years, to be shovel ready,” Jessen said, adding that completion is targeted within five years.
The village received a federal competitive freight grant for $20 million earlier this year to assist the project, which is estimated at a total cost of $35 million.
Meanwhile, the western extension of 143rd, set to expand the road from Steiner road to Ridge Road, remains in the design stage.
Jessen said seven to eight years ago, most of the landowners along the proposed corridor were receptive to the project. However, the project was put on hold as the economy slid downward. Currently, the village is considering a proposal for a massive warehouse just west of the Steiner and 143rd intersection, which will be built by Seefried Properties for Diageo. Should that project be approved, Diageo will take on the expense of building 143rd Street to the edge of its property line.
Additional projects in the works on the 2019 calendar include:
143rd/Wallin/Route 30
A project to revamp the intersection with new geometrics, additional lanes, lane widening, and permenant lighting has been on hold awaiting funding. Jessen said the project is expected to cost about $6.7 million. The village will apply for $5 million in assistance from the Will County Governmental League in 2019 to help pay for the project.
127th and Plainfield/Naperville Road
Plans to improve the intersection and add a light are dependent of approvals from both Bolingbrook and Will County. Jessen said the village is currently working on details with the county in order to go out to bid on those intersection improvements, with a goal to go out to bid in 2019.
Renwick Road
Plans to widen Renwick Road to align with the improvements over the DuPage River are expected to cost $2.5 to $3 million. The improvements will widen the roadway near the Plainfield Park District Rec Center, currently under construction and slated to open in early 2019. The village hopes to have the project under construction in 2020. The village has $1.5 million committed to the project, thanks to a grant from the Will County Governmental League.
Woodfarm Road
The village will look to utilize MFT funds to improve the roadway where it connects to Lockport Street, stretching to Persons Drive. Improvements were put in hold during the NICOR project, but the village is now looking to reconstruct the north part of the roadway into a three-lane section, and to reconstruct the culvert alongside the road. The road is heavily traveled by PACE buses, and the village anticipates additional traffic now that the PACE lot is up and running.
Indian Boundary Road Bridge
The village hopes to have a phase one report on the bridge by late 2018 or early 2019, with construction by 2020. The reconstruction of the bridge is expected to cost $2.1 million.