More than 2 miles of roadway have been resurfaced — with a half-mile fully reconstructed — and 5,864 feet of water main replaced in Hinsdale this construction season.
Those are the figures reported by village engineer Dan Deeter, who said the annual roster of Master Infrastructure Plan projects has gone relatively smoothly.
“We feel good,” he said.
On Monday, crews will begin work to resurface Chicago Avenue between Garfield and Stough streets. Deeter said motorists may encounter delays and partial street closures during the project, which is expected to be completed in late October or early November.
“They’ll be doing curb and gutter replacement and sidewalk repairs,” he said. “A lot of that (delay possibility) is going to depend on the contractor and equipment.”
Construction will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Street parking along the route will be prohibited. Motorists are advised to avoid the construction zone as much as possible and to use caution when traveling through it.
The resurfacing is the final phase of the project, which involved the replacement of the water main along Chicago from Washington to Stough earlier this year.
“We’re pleased with the results on the water main installation. That’s going to give us another 100 yeas of water distribution to the west side of Hinsdale,” Deeter said.
He noted the contractor pre-ordered pipe as the pandemic has created uncertainty in the availability of some materials.
“Usually they buy just enough for a week. But in this case, the (project manager) saw a shortfall coming and just bought everything he needed and just stored it on site,” Deeter related.
The other large-scale project this year has been the reconstruction of Eighth Avenue from Garfield to County Line Road. Deeter said utility work held up the project a bit.
“We’ve had some unexpected delays as Nicor needed to replace some shallow gas service lines to the houses. They had about 10 of those they had to replace,” he said.
This week crews have been stabilizing the sub-grade layer with Portland cement, Deeter reported.
“We firmed up the 12 inches below with Portland cement,” he said. “Then we’re going to come in with our standard road construction, putting 12 inches of a stone base, put in the curbs and gutters and then 5 inches of bituminous asphalt.”
He estimated work to continue for several more weeks.
Additionally, the following sections have been or will be resurfaced as part of the $5.7 million in 2021 MIP work:
• North York Road from Ogden Avenue to Glendale Avenue
• West Maple Street from Monroe Street to Grant Street
• Phillippa Street from Minneola Street to Fuller Road
• West Eighth Street from Quincy Street to Jackson Street
• South Quincy Street from Eighth Street to Melin Park
• South Washington Street from Seventh Street to Eighth Street
• Robbins Park parking lot on Eighth Street
• West Third Street from Grant Street to Washington Street
The MIP was established in 2009 to ensure the village’s road and water systems were maintained and repaired appropriately.
Deeter believes the final price tag on the year’s work will be favorable.
“I’m pretty confident we’re going to come in under budget, slightly,” he said.
