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Flossmoor board approves street resurfacing program

The Flossmoor Village Board has approved a contract for the Fiscal Year 2020 Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) street resurfacing program. Public Works Director John Brunke said the 2020 program includes resurfacing a total of 1.55 miles of street, spot curb repairs, sidewalk replacement and ADA improvements.
 

The Flossmoor Village Board has approved a contract for the Fiscal Year 2020 Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) street resurfacing program.
 
Public Works Director John Brunke said the 2020 program includes resurfacing a total of 1.55 miles of street, spot curb repairs, sidewalk replacement and ADA improvements. Board members approved the contract at their Aug. 19 meeting.

Street resurfacing will include Harding Avenue from Flossmoor Road to 187th Street, Patricia Lane from Lawrence Crescent to Bonnie Brae Crescent, Bob-o-Link Road from Heather Hill Crescent to Berry Lane, Travers Lane from Flossmoor Road to Hutchinson Road, Leavitt Avenue from Hawthorne Lane to Central Drive, the Flossmoor Road north alley from Douglas Avenue to the merchant parking lot and the Central Drive alley from Central Drive to the Central Drive parking lot.

The contract is with D Construction, Inc. for $463,560.92. The Coal City, Illinois, company also completed Flossmoor’s MFT street resurfacing program the past three years.

“We’ve had a good experience with D Construction,” Brunke said. “We haven’t had any issues with their work in the past, and they do really good work. Their quality is up there.”
 

Though D Construction submitted the lowest qualified bid out of four bidders, the cost is still about 16 percent over the village’s $400,000 budget for the work, which includes $150,000 from the MFT fund and $250,000 from the general fund.
 
The board approved a budget amendment to allow MFT funds to cover the additional $63,561 cost. The MFT fund has a more favorable fund balance and is expected to see additional revenue due to an MFT tax increase, according to village documents.
 
Public Works Director John Brunke said two factors have contributed to the village underestimating the cost of this project — asphalt and timing.
 
“The first (factor) is the increase in asphalt prices from last year, which is typically a market curb on oil prices,” he said, noting asphalt prices in the bids were 15 to 18 percent over last year’s prices.

“The other factor is our project was a lot later in summer than previous years,” Brunke said. 
 

Village Manager Bridget Wachtel said the MTF fund is expected to bring in about $120,000 to $130,000 for 2020 based on the first month of receipts. 
 
Brunke added that even without the MFT tax increase, the MFT fund would still have enough to cover the additional expense based on average monthly allotments over the past year. 
 
Brunke said these projects can take a while to get the OK from the state, so the construction would not interfere with the upcoming Hidden Gem Half Marathon on Sept. 7.
 
“By the time contracts go through IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation), we’d be lucky if we start work in a month, probably,” he said. “It’d be after the Gem for sure.”
Also on Aug. 19, the board approved a request to designate Sterling Avenue as a Federal Aid Urban (FAU) Route from Flossmoor Road to Heather Road. 
 
This would allow the village to pursue federal funding for future maintenance and reconstruction.
 
The Homewood Village Board on Aug. 13 approved their part of the request to designate Western Avenue (Sterling Avenue north) as an FAU route from Heather Road to 183rd Street. 
 
Homewood’s part was necessary because a FAU route has to have a logical end point. In this case, the logical ends would be Flossmoor Road and 183rd Street.
 
With approval from both villages, the request will be submitted to the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and then to IDOT and the Federal Highway Administration for consideration. 
 

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