Flossmoor will host an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, in Flossmoor Public Library, 1000 Sterling Ave., to provide information about the next stage of the multi-year, multi-phase Flossmoor Road Viaduct Drainage Improvements Project.
(Note: The location information above is correct. The information in the May 1 print edition was incorrect. The Chronicle apologizes for the error.)
On April 7, the Board of Trustees approved two contracts enabling Phase 3 of the project to proceed.
Trustees approved a contract with Airy’s Inc. to install an 84-inch drain along Lawrence Crescent from near Heather Hill School to Maryland Avenue. Airy’s was also the construction contractor for Phase 1 of the project, which involved drainage improvements in the Berry Lane area.
The board also approved a contract with Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers to provide construction engineering services for the project.
The new line is part of a system that will deliver stormwater from the viaduct downtown and from the Berry Lane area to a detention basin adjacent to the school.
Phase 4 of the project is expected to be bid this summer. It will extend the line from Maryland Avenue to Hawthorne Lane. Phase 5, which could be bid this fall, will extend the line from Hawthorne Lane to the viaduct. Public Works Director John Brunke noted the timing of Phase 5 depends on the results of pending grant applications. The $1.55 million bid from Airy’s was more than $211,000 less than the engineer’s estimate and more than $450,000 under the budget for Phase 3.
Because two Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grants will help pay for the project, 18% of the grant funds must go to minority-owned business enterprises and 10% of the grant funds must go to women-owned business enterprises.
Brunke said Airy’s “has indicated in their bid that they will fully meet this … goal requirement through their subcontractors on the project.” Airy’s is a veteran-owned business, he said.
Flood mitigation has been discussed by village officials for many years, but the current project got its impetus when a strong storm in the fall of 2019 caused flooding throughout the village.
The Civic Center Building downtown was hard hit, with several businesses sustaining damage.
Residents demanded action, and in 2020 voters approved a $10 million bond issue to provide money for street improvements and flood relief projects. The village has used part of that money to leverage state and federal grants to pay for the five-phase project.
The village broke ground for the Berry Lane project in May 2022. It was completed in December 2022 after experiencing delays caused by a quarry strike and by unplanned additional paving work.
Phase 2 of the project, the construction of a detention basin adjacent to Heather Hill School, was completed during the summer and fall of 2024.
The basin was the subject of controversy. A number of Heather Hill neighborhood residents spoke out against the project at a number of village board, Homewood-Flossmoor Park District board and Flossmoor School District 161 board meetings.
Residents expressed a number of concerns about the project, primarily the fear that its proximity to the elementary school would be a safety hazard for children.