DOWNERS GROVE, IL — The Illinois Tollway Board of Directors approves three construction and professional engineering services contracts totaling more than $43.2 million, including the final contract needed to complete airport runway lighting relocation for the new I-490 Tollway.
“As part of I-490 Tollway construction, the Tollway is relocating approach lighting for four runways at O’Hare International Airport,” Illinois Tollway Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse said. “Our engineers’ efforts in collaboration with the Chicago Department of Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration to deliver the contracts needed to complete this work have been critical to delivering the new I-490 Tollway Project.”
The new I-490 Tollway will run near the edge of O’Hare Airport and travel directly through approach lighting systems for four runways that include more than a dozen approach lights that flash sequentially to direct jets during the landing process. Building the narrow steel bridges will allow the Tollway to raise several of the approach lights for each runway above the I-490 right of way so the new road can be built underneath.
More than $794.1 million in contracts were approved by the Tollway Board in 2024, as part of the 13th year of the Tollway’s 16-year, $15 billion Move Illinois capital program. The Tollway’s capital program calls for investing $1.4 billion in 2024.
The contracts recently approved include 22 certified disadvantaged, minority- and women-owned business enterprise (D/M/WBE) firms, as well as two certified veteran-owned firms. Commitments for D/M/WBE participation range from 27.06 percent to 92 percent per contract, and commitments for veteran participation range from 2.44 percent to 4 percent per contract.
| Your local Komatsu America Corp dealer |
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| Brandeis Machinery |
Overall, nearly $11.6 billion has been invested by the Tollway since the program began in 2012, with more than $3 billion of that total committed to small, diverse, and veteran-owned firms. In addition, the capital program has created or sustained an estimated 137,210 total jobs as of October 2024.
The recent construction contracts awarded include:
- A $38.6 million contract to Plote Construction Inc., of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, for runway 10R approach lighting with sequence flashing lighting system relocation, earthwork, and bridge construction for the new I-490 Tollway between York Road and Taft Avenue
- A $975,238 contract to Areatha Construction Co. Inc., of Streamwood, Illinois, for bridge repairs on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) Mile Long Bridge
The professional engineering services contracts awarded include:
| Your local Trimble Construction Division dealer |
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| SITECH Indiana |
| SITECH Mid-South |
| SITECH Ohio |
- A $3.7 million contract to J.A. Watts Inc., of Chicago, Illinois, for construction management services for toll plaza improvements on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) between 159th Street and Golf Road
