If the roadwork on Grand Boulevard wasn’t enough for you, get ready for more improvements to public infrastructure.
Brookfield trustees on June 9 approved a contract with Davis Concrete Construction Company, a firm based in Alsip and Monee, to replace sidewalks in town later this year.
Lauren Moore, the village’s director of public works, said about 7,550 square feet of sidewalk will be replaced. The affected streets will include stretches of Rockefeller, Parkview, Arden, McCormick, Washington, Brookfield, Rosemear, Woodside, Riverside, Morton, Prairie and Arthur avenues, Moore said in an email to the Landmark.
She said work could start in June or July. No official state date has been named, but the village expects the construction to be complete by Sept. 12.
“These guys, they move pretty fast, so the only thing, really, that’s going to affect that is weather conditions,” she said.
Davis was one of five construction companies to submit a bid for the project. Davis’s offer came in at $91,714, about $10,000 lower than the next-lowest bidder and well below Brookfield’s engineer’s estimate of $133,775.
Moore said there are multiple reasons the village goes out to bid for sidewalk replacement projects each year.
“It’s aesthetics; it does look really nice when your sidewalks look nice and clean,” she said. “In Brookfield, it’s more safety-focused than it is aesthetics-focused. Just taking good care of the things that belong to us and keeping on a program, on a rotation, so that, 10 years from now … certain areas aren’t being neglected. Everything is getting touched on at some point.”
She said the sidewalks that are ultimately replaced each year are chosen with discretion from the public works team.
“It could be based on SeeClickFix reports from residents. It could be our engineers, or Hancock’s, that come across something, or there’s been a project. We could have taken some sidewalk squares out to repair a water main break months ago, or a driveway apron needed to be pulled up, and we’re throwing that in there,” she said. “It’s stuff that comes up for maintenance and repair or [is] reported as a hazard.”
Moore said some sidewalks may be added to the list after a village employee decides it needs to be improved.
“Even our own guys may find they did come across something that they feel should be written up and assessed. They can assess it themselves, or they refer it to the foreman to make that decision ultimately, but it’s kind of a team effort,” she said. “There are multiple people who have their eyes on it to make sure we’re not missing anything, especially those really hazardous sidewalk squares with a lip you could trip on.”
