The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority awarded nearly $180 million in construction contracts Wednesday to widen 23 miles of the Tri-State Tollway from 95th Street to the Kennedy Expressway near O`Hare International Airport. The four contracts were the largest of the 12 that are expected to be let on the $460 million project to add lanes, enlarge toll plazas and complete bridge and ramp improvements.
Construction could start as early as a week from Monday and is expected to end in November 1993.
”A lot depends on the weather,” said Robert Hickman, executive director of the tollway authority. The contracts contain a $15,000-a-day penalty for not finishing on time, he added.
The winning contractors and the amounts were:
– A joint venture of Walsh Construction Co., K-Five Construction Corp. and T.J. Lambrecht Construction Inc. for $35,768,582 to build an additional lane in both directions along 2 1/2 miles from south of 95th Street to south of the 79th Street exit ramp. The 83rd Street toll plaza will also be widened. – James McHugh Construction Co. for $50,894,606 to add a lane in both directions along two miles from south of the Roosevelt Road interchange to south of Lake Street.
– Mellon Stuart Construction Inc. for $46,155,418 to add lanes along two miles from south of the Bensenville Bridge to south of Irving Park Road in both directions.
– A joint venture of Palumbo Brothers, Herlihy Mid-Continent Co. and Lorig Construction Co. for $46,937,038 to add a lane in both directions from south of the Irving Park Road ramp to the Kennedy Expressway.
Tollway directors had their pick of bids that proposed a two-year construction term as well as three years.
”We thought it might cost more to accelerate the work, but it didn`t,”
Hickman said. ”In fact, two of the bids were cheaper at two years.”
The four bids awarded Wednesday were $17,930,665 under staff estimates, Hickman said.
Tollway officials have also been meeting with the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Chicago Area Transportation Study to coordinate the Tri-State construction with IDOT`s work on the Kennedy Expressway.
The Kennedy construction between the Ohio-Ontario feeder to the Edens junction is expected to begin early in 1992 and be finished in three years.
”We had a traffic study by CATS, and from that it doesn`t show any problems doing both at the same time,” Hickman said.
