Tollway contracts $83 million for professional engineering and road construction for December

Illinois Tollway awards more than $83 million in contracts for construction and professional engineering services in December. Nearly $6.3 billion invested since start of Move Illinois Program

The Illinois Tollway Board of Directors today approved five construction contracts and three professional engineering service contracts totaling more than $83.7 million at its December meeting, including contract awards determined by the use of bid credits gained through participation in the Tollway’s Earned Credit Program (ECP). In all, nearly $853.1 million in contracts have been approved by the Tollway Board in 2018.

In 2018, the Tollway has awarded 112 contracts to 80 unique construction and professional engineering service firms providing opportunities for diverse firms varying in size and levels of experience. These firms have worked to keep the Tollway system in good repair and have begun work on infrastructure improvements that will enhance service for Tollway customers when complete, including the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) and the new I-490 Tollway.

“Throughout the year, the Illinois Tollway has continued to strive to increase diversity and inclusiveness in its contracting process, which we believe generates competition and in turn better bids on our projects,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Liz Gorman. “As part of this month’s contract awards, participating in ECP gave firms an advantage and the use of bid credits resulted in the lowest bid for three separate contracts.”

Road construction cement truck. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania

A contractor can lower bids and increase the chances of winning contracts by applying bid credits to construction bids. The Illinois Tollway’s ECP program offers contractors and subcontractors a chance to earn bid credits toward future Tollway construction bids when they hire workers from a pool of qualified, pre-screened candidates that includes minorities, women, eligible offenders and exonerated individuals, veterans and other Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) eligible individuals.

The use of ECP bid credits to bid on Tollway projects has grown dramatically since the program began with 10 bids, or 7 percent, submitted with ECP credits during the first year of the program in 2007, compared to 122 bids, nearly 45 percent, submitted in 2018. Overall, the use of ECP bid credits has influenced the award of 37 contracts with a cumulative value exceeding $396 million and the use of nearly $2.6 million in credits.

December construction contracts awarded include:

A $20.1 million contract to Curran Contracting Co., Crystal Lake, IL, for construction of a new, full-access Illinois Route 23 Interchange on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90).
A $19.5 million contract to F.H. Paschen S.N. Nielsen & Associates, Chicago, IL, for ramp construction as part of the new interchange to connect the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) with the new I-490 Tollway.
A $14.1 million contract to Curran Contracting Co., Crystal Lake, IL, for construction to complete full-access at the Illinois Route 47 Interchange on the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88).
A $9.7 million contract to Madison Construction Co., Orland Park, IL, for renovations at the Hillside (M-2) maintenance site on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294).
A $1.6 million contract to Dunnet Bay Construction Co., Glendale Heights, IL, for construction of noise abatement walls along the Tri-State Tollway (I-294).

December professional engineering services contract awards include:

A $13.5 million contract to exp US Services Inc., Chicago, IL, for construction management services on the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) Project between Grand Avenue and Wolf Road.
A $3 million contract to Stantec Consulting Services Inc., Chicago, IL, for systemwide construction management services, including work related to construction of the new Illinois Route 23 Interchange on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90).
A $2.3 million contract to Techknow Engineering, Chicago, IL, for temporary relocation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294).

The contracts approved today include one prime consultant, 19 subconsultants and 38 subcontractors that are certified as disadvantaged, minority- and women-owned business enterprise (D/M/WBE) firms and three subconsultants, as well as five subcontractors that are certified veteran-owned firms. Commitments for D/M/WBE participation range from 18 percent to 98 percent per contract and commitments for veteran participation range from 2 to 3 percent per contract.

The contract awards also mark the final Board action for the seventh year of the Tollway’s 15-year, $14 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future. Overall, nearly $6.3 billion has been invested by the Tollway since the Move Illinois Program began in 2012, with more than $1.8 billion of that total committed to small, diverse and veteran-owned firms. Of the 1,395 firms participating on contracts during Move Illinois, 905 are working with the Tollway for the first time. In addition, the capital program has created or sustained an estimated 65,750 total jobs as of November 2018.

Illinois Tollway professional engineering services contracts are selected in accordance with the qualifications-based selection process (Illinois Public Act 87-673 (30 ILCS 535/1-535/80) Architectural, Engineering and Land Surveying Qualifications-Based Selection Act), which requires state agencies to select professional architects, engineers and surveyors on the basis of demonstrated competence and professional qualifications, rather than low bid. Contract services staff from the Engineering Department checks statements of interest to ensure that specified pre-qualifications and documentation requirements are met. Tollway engineers and managers then review and score statements of interest based on the advertised selection criteria service. Tollway Diversity Department staff also reviews the statements of interest for compliance with advertised diversity criteria. Executives from the Engineering Department then review the scoring, as well as each firm’s capacity, and identify the top recommended firms per project. To complete the selection, a committee of Tollway professionals and independent engineering officials considers the top recommended firms and finalizes the top three firms in ranked order. The Tollway then seeks to negotiate a final contract price with the top-ranked firm. The award of a professional engineering services contract is dependent on approval by the Tollway Board of Directors.

Construction contracts for Illinois Tollway projects are competitively bid under the rules of the Illinois Procurement Code. As part of the process, contractors’ bid submissions for construction work advertised by the Tollway are opened and read aloud during public bid opening meetings, which are also broadcast live on the Tollway’s website. Following an agency review process, the lowest, responsible and responsive bid is presented to the Illinois Tollway Board of Directors for review and approval.

The Illinois Tollway provides detailed information about current Tollway construction contracts through the Construction Contract Tracker on the Tollway’s website at illinoistollway.com. Contractors and consultants can also access resources online to help them learn about how to do business with the Tollway, including construction bid-letting schedules, professional service bulletins, manuals and construction bid calendars. These resources can be found in the “Doing Business” section of the Tollway’s website.

About Move Illinois
The Illinois Tollway’s 15-year, $14 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future, is improving mobility, relieving congestion, reducing pollution, creating as many as 120,000 jobs and linking economies throughout the region. The first six years of Move Illinois are on schedule and within budget, delivering the new Illinois Route 390 Tollway and a rebuilt and widened Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) with its new SmartRoad corridor, as well as opening a new interchange connecting the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) to I-57. Progress continues on projects addressing the remaining needs of the existing Tollway system, delivering the new I-490 Tollway Project and reconstruction of the Central Tri-State Tollway (I-294) and planning for emerging projects.

About the Illinois Tollway
The Illinois Tollway is a user-fee system that receives no state or federal funds for maintenance and operations. The agency maintains and operates 294 miles of roadways in 12 counties in Northern Illinois, including the Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), the Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355), the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90), the Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294/I-80) and the Illinois Route 390 Tollway.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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