News

Roots Road project nearing completion

Posted July 13, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

MODOC -- For the drivers who use it, the year-and-a-half headache otherwise known as the Roots Road project is nearing completion.

Joe Gasaway, supervising field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation's District 8 office in Collinsville, told the Herald Tribune the road should be open by Labor Day.

"We've just finished the deck and we're doing some painting," Gasaway said. "We've got a little bit of asphalt work to do on the bridge approaches and once the painters are out of the way, we'll put the guardrails on."

In November 2014, then-Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced - as part of his $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program - that Halverson Construction of Springfield would replace 399 feet of bridge deck carrying Roots Road over the Union Pacific Railroad and make repairs to 1,450 feet of the Kaskaskia River bridge at a cost of nearly $2.5 million.

But in assessing the river bridge, IDOT officials found it needed more work than anticipated, which resulted in a separate $6.8 million contract to Keeley & Sons of East St. Louis for the river bridge.

Halverson Construction completed the railroad bridge at a price of $1.27 million, and Gasaway credited IDOT Project Engineer Dave Parker for helping to coordinate both projects.

"We ran into some issues (on the river bridge) where they saw there was more work than originally expected and that pushed it into a different letting," Parker said. "We should be in good shape for years to come to help out this part of the county. "

Workers at the scene Thursday told the newspaper that the original bridge deck, completed in 1961, was so rotten that crane mats were needed, making demolition more difficult.

"Judging by condition as we did the demo, I think (rebuilding the bridge deck) was the right decision," Parker said.

The road was closed March 16, 2015 and was originally scheduled to be reopened by December 1 of that year, but the project was delayed when the railroad bridge ran behind schedule.

"The railroad bridge was completed last fall and steel repairs and demolition of the river bridge deck was done in the winter," Gasaway said. "Paving was done this spring."

Gasaway said the state's budget impasse had little effect on the project, but the recent passing of the "stop-gap" budget will allow workers to finish the job.

"Other than one day, it didn't bother us at all," Gasaway said. "I'm sure glad that they've got a budget.

"We were in the last stages and as soon as (stop-gap budget) passed, it allowed us to finish the job."

In May, IDOT announced its five-year Highway Improvement Program, a list of projects it hopes to undertake through 2022.

Included on the list is patching sections of State Route 3 (State Street to Crosby Street) and State Route 150 (Opdyke Street to Jung Lane) at an estimated cost of $500,000 in 2017.

Also in 2017, IDOT is hoping to resurface 2.51 miles of State Route 4 to Locust Street in Steeleville at an estimated cost of $1.5 million.

The most significant project, in terms of cost, on the list is an estimated $4.5 million to resurface 7.97 miles of State Route 3 from the Monroe County line to 1st Street in Ruma.

That project is estimated to occur between 2018 and 2022.

Gasaway said projects will be "let out" for bidding on July 29.

"Contractors are notified to be able to bid on those projects," Gasaway said. "They go on the web, see what the plans are and bid appropriately."

Gasaway said it usually takes a month to award the contracts.

"From the time of letting to the time they start work is about six weeks to make sure the bids are done correctly," he said.

Article Categories
News