When you’re driving through Forest Park, plan for construction on Jackson Boulevard for the rest of this year.
Construction on Jackson Boulevard between Des Plaines and Harlem began the last week of April and is expected to last through November. Forest Park is replacing the water main underneath the street in order to improve the quality and delivery of water throughout the village and is also replacing lead service lines along Jackson Boulevard.
Over the next 7 months, Jackson Boulevard will stay open, though there will be staggered lane closures along the street. Village staff encourage residents to plan for extra travel time and consider alternate routes.
The 50-year-old water main underneath Jackson Boulevard has seen multiple emergency breaks in recent years and is beyond its useful life, according to village staff. Water main and lead service line construction, then street resurfacing, will start at Harlem and Jackson and move west.
Jackson Boulevard construction is projected to cost over $3.7 million, financed through the village’s VIP fund and water fund. But when village staff started planning for the project 3 years ago, it was expected to be $1 million cheaper. The higher costs are attributed to increased construction costs and requirements from the Illinois Department of Transportation that the contractor had to complete over half the projects themselves, garnering a single bidder.
To make up the extra $1 million cost, at a March council meeting commissioners unanimously approved spending Forest Park’s annual portion of the state gas tax to finance construction on Jackson Boulevard.
In addition to replacing the water main on Jackson, the village is also replacing lead service lines along the road and in surrounding areas, including:
- Between Jackson and Lehmer Street
- Between Jackson and Madison Street, Ferdinand and Hannah
- From 13th Street to 16th Street
- Between Roosevelt and Harrison, Circle and Dunlop
- Between Dunlop and Des Plaines
Residents on Jackson either have already been informed of construction or will be as it approaches their homes.
“We’ve also coordinated with the school district and the library,” said Village Administrator Rachell Entler at an April 27 village council meeting. “We want to ensure that the construction that affects the school district is timed so that we don’t offer too much disruption to the school, especially since we’re going to be doing lead service line replacement too.”