After waiting six years and watching cost estimates roughly double, Kane County Forest Preserve District officials were told Friday that construction could begin this fall on a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Illinois Highway 56 near Galena Boulevard in Sugar Grove.
The state is scheduled to open bids Sept. 17 on the Virgil Gilman Nature Trail project, which includes a five-span, 500-foot steel bridge, Nabi Fakroddin, an engineer with McHenry-based Smith Engineering Consultants Inc., told the district’s Executive Committee.
The district’s costs for final engineering and construction were estimated by Fakroddin to top $2 million, compared with the original estimate of $1 million. The committee recommended payment of its share.
The district has earmarked a $200,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for the project, to which it will add more than $1 million in federal funds. Fakroddin said the bridge and trail project is expected to begin in October and be completed next summer.
State delays in completing construction plans for Illinois 56 added substantially to the project’s revised cost estimate, Fakroddin said. The roadway will be raised by 7 feet rather than 3 to 4 feet as originally planned, he said.
