Community Corner

Oak Street Bridge Options Presented at Hinsdale Meeting

Citizens filled Memorial Hall to get details on both a replacement bridge and a County Line Road underpass.

Two possible solutions for the Oak Street Bridge issue, which have different time frames and very different price tags, were presented to the Hinsdale public at a community meeting Wednesday night at Memorial Hall.

Allen Staron of Clark Dietz, the village’s engineering partner, walked attendants through the basics of replacing the soon-to-be-outdated Oak Street bridge, which would take two construction seasons and $13 million to $17 million, versus the creation of a County Line Road underpass, which would likely take three construction seasons and $53 to $57 million.

"Included in that opinion is the removal of the existing bridge, construction of the new underpass structure at County Line Road, construction and removal of a temporary railroad detour, restoration of parkland, street construction, temporary Metra facilities, traffic control and landscaping," Staron said.

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Compliance with the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad during construction is the source of much of the additional costs in the underpass option. Staron said a three-track detour would have to be constructed in order to keep the 150 trains that  travel the rail section daily on schedule. Temporary Metra stations would need to be constructed, and railroad utilities, including fiber-optic cable and electric lines, would need to be considered and worked around.

A replacement bridge at the current location would be built so that it is at least 23 feet, 4 inches above the tracks, which is the minimum clearance required. The new bridge, as proposed Wednesday, would contain two traffic lanes and a less exaggerated hump, meaning drivers would have better visibility while traveling across the bridge.

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Both options include the possibility of two-way traffic with two 12-foot traffic lanes. Both options would also have four-foot bike lanes on each side of the road and 10-foot parkways that would include sidewalks.

Funding is already in place for the replacement bridge option. Just over $10.2 million would come from the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), $3.16 million would come from the Federal Surface Transportation Program (STP), $2.44 million would come from Federal Bridge Replacement Funds (BRRP), and just over $1 million combined would come from the Illinois Capital Bill and the West Suburban Mass Transit District.

The village would have to apply for modifications to the ICC grant if the County Line underpass were pursued. The STP grant could be modified if a different option of the same price were decided on, Staron said, but the higher price tag on the underpass “may adversely impact the likelihood of being granted STP funding.” The BRRP grant would not transfer.

Staron said funding would be short $36 million to $40 million if the underpass option was selected.  trustee Laura LaPlaca, who has represented the Board of Trustees on the Oak Street Bridge Community Working Group, said no taxpayer money will be used in any solution because it's not a part of the village's master infrastructure plan. Therefore, the underpass project would have to wait until sufficient funding was in place. 

The village is seeking input from the community on which option should be pursued. Comment sheets were handed out at the meeting, and folks who were not in attendance are encouraged to visit www.oakstreetbridge.com and submit opinions via the comment form in the lower right-hand side of the page.

LaPlaca said the plans presented Wednesday are not set in stone. The point is to select one of the general solutions and then proceed with specific planning with community input.

For example, if the replacement bridge is the selected option, it might be decided that it will contain two lanes but still only allow alternating one-way traffic as it currently does to avoid high-speed traffic. 

Staron asked that all comments be submitted by Nov. 11. The Oak Street Bridge Project Study Group, which includes representatives from the village, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Federal Highway Administration, will review the comments.

"The project study group will make a recommendation of a preferred crossing location based on all the project data and community input," Staron said. "This meeting will probably take place in either November or December."

The recommendation will then be reviewed by the Community Working Group. 


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