Title
143rd Street and LaGrange Road Improvement - ComEd Utility Relocation
History
Integral to the 143rd Street and LaGrange Road intersection improvements is the relocation of public utilities that are in conflict with the new roadway design and construction. Identified utilities that require relocation include facilities owned by Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), AT&T, Comcast and to a limited degree - Nicor. This item deals exclusively with the relocation and burial of electrical facilities owned by ComEd.
Since the early phases of design, the relocation of utilities has been a major critical-path component of every schedule that has been developed for this improvement. Over recent months, several property acquisition items have come to the Board for authorization as we have identified portions of properties along the intersection corridor that must be acquired for utility relocation work and roadway widening. Final property acquisition work continues as we move nearer to the advance utility relocation work and roadway construction.
As the overall budget for the 143rd Street and LaGrange Road project was formulated, ComEd was asked to provide a preliminary cost estimate and in August 2009, a figure of $6.1 million was provided as the potential cost to relocate and bury electrical lines on LaGrange Road from the Southwest Highway viaduct to generally 144th Street and on 143rd Street from generally John Humphrey Drive to the Metra tracks to the west. This was a very preliminary cost estimate, as design for the overall project had not yet proceeded to a point where finite utility needs could be defined with any degree of accuracy. Since then, Staff and engineers have continued to refine the overall project and have been able to get interim review approvals from IDOT to better define the scope of the improvement.
This past week, ComEd provided a written proposal to the Village dated July 19, 2010, for the costs associated with the relocation of the overhead electrical utility service components in the amount of $2,316,551. This final estimated cost is considerably less than all previous estimates as the final roadway design was utilized when preparing this estimate. At the request of the Village, an extra empty conduit will be installed at an additional cost of $140,506 parallel to the ComEd electrical conduit enabling the Village to add fiber optic cable to the corridor in the future as users and need demands. This amount is reflected on the submitted proposal, bringing the total proposed project cost to $2,457,057. It should be noted that this estimate does not include the undergrounding work from 144th Place to 147th Street. The estimated cost for this portion of the project is $1,500,000. Staff expects to advance this phase of the project at a later date.
Staff has reviewed the ComEd estimate and accompanying engineering plans, and has identified additional items and costs excluded from the ComEd estimate for which the Village will be responsible. These costs include transformer pads ($10,000) and service reconnection costs ($150,000). Also it is Staff’s recommendation that an additional amount be approved for this project for premium time that may be required to complete this project by the established November 2010 completion date ($130,850), and a small contingency amount for conflict resolution and other unknowns ($130,850). The total of these estimated additional project costs amount to $421,700. The costs are presented in detail in the attached July 21, 2010, Recommended Approval Memo provided by the Village’s Design Engineer of Record from V3, Mr. George Schober.
It is the recommendation of Staff that the ComEd proposal, as well as the suggested additions outlined in Mr. Schober’s July 21, 2010 Memo be accepted as presented for a total estimated project cost of $2,878,700 for the relocation and burial of electrical utility facilities and service drops from their present overhead location along LaGrange Road and 143rd Street within the limits of the intersection improvement project, and for the additional items previously discussed and recommended.
In order for ComEd to commence work on this project, an advance payment in the amount of $1,200,000 is required as outlined in their July 19, 2010 proposal. It is Staff’s recommendation that this payment be expedited and wire transferred so work may begin as early as August 3, 2010.
On August 2, 2010, at 6:00 p.m. this item went to the Public Works and Engineering Committee for review prior to being sent at 7:00 p.m. to the Board of Trustees for approval.
Financial Impact
Funds for the proposed ComEd utility relocation, as well as the additional items outlined in the Recommendation and Approval Memo have been included in the approved Fiscal Year 2010 Budget within the Village’s Capital Improvement Fund.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to approve authorizing the Village Manager to execute the ComEd Electrical Utility Relocation proposal dated July 19, 2010 in an amount not-to-exceed of $2,457,057,
And
Approve authorizing the payment of $421,700 of additional project costs for which ComEd will be reimbursed upon providing proof of incurring the expense related to these portions of the project.