Construction season has arrived in Riverside, and anyone living in or driving through the village – particularly south of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad tracks — this summer will no doubt feel its impact.
On May 10, equipment related to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s Salt Creek Intercepting Sewer No. 2 sewer lining project reappeared on Riverside Road.
Depending on rainfall – since crews from Kenny Construction can’t work on the pipes until storm water drains from them – work is expected to begin sometime this week.
Under construction since 2016, the $41 million project will result in rehabilitating more than six miles of the Salt Creek Intercepting Sewer No. 2, which extends down First Avenue from roughly Roosevelt Road to Forest Avenue/Ridgewood Road and then heads both east and west into Riverside and Brookfield.
The Salt Creek Intercepting Sewer conveys combined waste and storm water to the MWRD’s waste water treatment facility in Stickney. The sewer is also part of the MWRD’s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), also known as the Deep Tunnel system, which serves as a massive combined sewer overflow during heavy rain events.
Crews have been inserting a flexible tube, impregnated with resin, into the 90-year-old Salt Creek Intercepting Sewer pipes and then curing the liner in place. In Riverside, the work has taken place inside the pipes, which are up to seven feet in diameter.
In Brookfield along Arden Avenue, where the work restarted in April, the liner was fed into the smaller sewer line from trucks parked along the street.
The sewer lining project is expected to wrap up later this year.
First Division street improvements
After enduring a very dusty summer in 2017 with the installation of a new storm water sewer system, residents of Riverside’s First Division will see their streets ripped up again – this time in order to repave them.
On May 3, Riverside trustees voted unanimously to approve a $1.33 million contract with Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. to oversee the design and construction of the improvements.
Work is expected to last through July 6, according to a construction notice issued by the village last week. All of the streets in the First Division affected by last year’s sewer project will be completely resurfaced, including Scottswood Road, from Barrypoint to Fairbank; Millbridge Road, from Fairbank to Bloomingbank; Coonley Road, from Fairbank to Bloomingbank; Fairbank Road, from Barrypoint to Bloomingbank; and Bloomingbank Road, from Fairbank to Barrypoint.
Work will also involve the repair of damaged drainage structures and spot replacement of curbs, gutters, carriage walks and driveway aprons. ADA-accessible sidewalk ramps will be installed at intersections.
According to the village, residents will have access to their driveways except if a driveway apron is to be replaced. Residents will receive written notification prior to the apron removal, according to the village.
Any homeowner with a parkway sprinkler system installed is asked to clearly mark the location of sprinklers to avoid them being damaged. The village, however, says it is not responsible for any damage to sprinklers in the parkway.
Parking will be limited during the construction project, and vehicles left in places where a prohibition is in place risk getting towed.
The contract also includes $100,000 for the village’s sidewalk replacement program and $7,500 for thermoplastic pavement markings that will be applied throughout the village in response to a traffic study completed last year.
