NT_071819

20 | July 18, 2019 | The Northbrook tower news
northbrooktower.com
THE LAKE FOREST LEADER
Village surprised by $61M
overhaul of Lake Bluff
interchange
For years, commuters
traveling through the interchange
at Illinois Route
176 and U.S. Route 41
in Lake Bluff have faced
considerable daily traffic
congestion and safety hazards.
But a long-planned upgrade
to the interchange is
now closer to completion,
now that $61 million has
been secured for the project.
The funding comes
from the recently signed
Rebuild Illinois capital
construction plan, which
includes nearly $45 billion
for state repairs to roads,
bridges and transit over the
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span of six years.
State Senator Julie Morrison,
D-Deerfield, made
the announcement over the
Fourth of July weekend,
which came as a surprise
to the Lake Bluff Village
Board, according to President
Kathleen O’Hara.
“We heard this week,
much to our surprise to
be totally honest, that $61
million is going to be allocated
for the 41-176 exchange,”
O’Hara said at
the Village Board meeting
on Monday, July 8.
“We hope to be at the
table,” she added, “but
we’re not sure if we’re sitting
with the adults ... or
the kiddies table.”
O’Hara noted the $61
million overhaul of the
Lake Bluff interchange is
a state project and consists
of three phases. Phase I
was completed in 2015 and
focused on an engineering
and environmental study
that steered the design of
the project.
Reporting by Stephanie Kim,
Freelance Reporter. Full
story at LakeForestLeader.
com.
THE GLENCOE ANCHOR
Student-painted rain
barrels to be installed at
D35 schools
After a wet start to the
summer, some of Glencoe’s
youngest residents
learned about water conservation
during Glencoe
District 35’s Summer Explorations
program.
Summer Explorations
started June 17 and ran
through Friday, July 12.
The session offered a variety
of classes to local students
who were looking to
continue learning throughout
their summer break.
During the week of July
8, a group of students from
the Backyard Art Summer
camp had a special visitor:
Rebecca Wooley from the
Metropolitan Water Reclamation
District of Greater
Chicago.
Wooley, who works in
MWRD’s public affairs
department, taught students
from first through
fifth grade about their
local waste water treatment
plant — Terrence J.
O’Brien Water Reclamation
Plant in Skokie — and
how they clean waste water.
“We release water into
the local waterways, but
first we clean and treat
it,” Wooley said of the
130-year-old organization.
“We also manage stormwater.
It’s our responsibility
to protect neighborhoods
and businesses from
flooding.”
She also introduced students
to green infrastructure,
which helps with
stormwater detention. The
main infrastructure includes
native plants, green
roofs, rain gardens and
rain barrels.
Everyone can be a
“stormwater superhero”
by helping out with green
infrastructure, Wooley
said — not just MWRD.
Reporting by Megan Bernard,
Contributing Editor.
Full story at GlencoeAnchor.
com.
THE WINNETKA CURRENT
Bids denied for water main
replacement project
The Winnetka Village
Council voted to reject
bids for a water main replacement
project at Westmoor
Road and Mount
Pleasant Street, instead
opting to delay the project
and put it out to bid again
in early 2020.
Two bids for the project
— from Berger Excavating
Contractors and A Lamp
Concrete Contractors —
to replace sections of the
water main distribution
system at Westmoor and
Mount Pleasant both came
in at around $1.05 million
(the bids were separated
by just under $2,200).
Meanwhile, the Village
engineer’s estimate came
in at just under $796,000.
“There’s some conditions
with this particular
bid that I think warrant
rejecting the bid at this
time,” Director of Public
Works Steve Saunders
said.
The two bids were approximately
32 percent
above the Village’s own
estimates for the replacement
project.
After discussions with
the contractors, Saunders
said three primary factors
contributed to the elevated
bid levels. Among them,
the timing of the bidding
process was atypical.
“Typically, we would
bundle our regular street
rehabilitation bids with the
water main bids,” Saunders
said. “But we were
not able to do that with
this particular job because
this is partially funded by
funds through the Illinois
EPA revolving loan program.
They have some
timing constraints that are
related to the state fiscal
year.”
In addition, Saunders
said there is a high volume
of work being done
throughout the area.
Reporting by Fouad Egbaria,
Freelance Reporter. Full
story at WinnetkaCurrent.
com.
THE WILMETTE BEACON
Decisions on configuration
preferences for Wilmette
stormwater project
made
The stormwater project
took another step forward.
The Wilmette Park
Board reached a consensus
on what configuration to
move forward with at each
park to be able to provide
direction to the Village
at its July 8 meeting. The
board reached a unanimous
consensus to move
forward with alternate
configuration 2 at Thornwood
Park and alternate
configuration 1 at Hibbard
Park, while reaching a ma-
Please see nfyn, 29