Brookfield will look to have preliminary engineering and design engineering completed for regular improvements to Prairie Avenue ahead of schedule so the project is ready to receive possible contingency funding in 2027 or 2028.
The project is now scheduled for completion in 2029 by the Central Council of Mayors, which operates the Surface Transportation Program offering federal funding to local municipalities for transportation-related projects.
Unrelated to the street improvement project, construction work to improve lighting on the 3700 block of Prairie Avenue was scheduled to start Wednesday, Nov. 5 and will last about two weeks. The village board approved that project in April.
The program will cover 80% of the costs related to construction and construction engineering to maintain Prairie Avenue from Brookfield Avenue to 31st Street. Those costs fall just under $2.8 million, leaving Brookfield to pay only $976,280 in total.
Of that, $30,000 is for the first phase, preliminary engineering, while $250,000 is for the second phase, design engineering. The remaining sum of $696,280 is Brookfield’s 20% share for the third phase.
Dan O’Malley, a project manager for Brookfield’s contracted firm Hancock Engineering, told trustees at their Oct. 27 committee of the whole meeting he believed STP contingency funding — money that was set aside for a specific project elsewhere that was not ready to move forward on schedule — could be available in 2027 or 2028, which would allow Brookfield to improve Prairie Avenue at that time.
The maintenance work would include replacing deteriorated sections of the sewer system; repairing or replacing drainage structures; replacing failing sections of curbs, gutters, sidewalks and driveway aprons; installing ADA-compliant intersections and alley returns; patching failed areas of pavement; resurfacing the pavement and restoring disturbed rights-of-way.
If the village receives contingency funding, O’Malley said, it would be able to add on the costs of full streetscape improvements to the 3700 block of Prairie Avenue. Similar to improvements done this year to the 3700 block of Grand Avenue, the work would see sidewalks fully replaced with brick pavers installed along the curbs, new trees with grates put in, new light poles, conduits and signage installed and the road restriped.
O’Malley and Village Manager Tim Wiberg said contingency funding, by definition, is not guaranteed, but Brookfield’s aggressive approach to planning projects means it has often benefitted from such funding in the past.
O’Malley said Brookfield’s public works department has indicated a water main under Prairie Avenue, from Monroe Avenue to Brookfield Avenue, needs replacing. If Brookfield can obtain funding from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in 2026 or 2027, the water main and surrounding lead water service lines will be replaced before the other improvements to avoid redundant work, O’Malley said.
Trustee Nicole Gilhooley raised concerns about the federal nature of funding through the STP.
“I know that we have been, over the years, very successful in getting the STP grants and other federal funds, and you mentioned the central council’s got some level of confidence that we’d be OK there, but in the current climate where Illinois stands with the federal government, what’s your confidence level?” she asked.
“We haven’t heard anything from the Central Council of Mayors. I would think that they would put out a statement or some type of information if anything were to change,” O’Malley said in response.
In response to a question from Trustee Kyle Whitehead, O’Malley said the $280,000 of preliminary and design engineering work would have to be paid regardless of whether Brookfield positioned the project for contingency funding or waited for the scheduled grant funding in 2029.
“By getting your design done earlier, whether it’s this year or next year, whenever that [contingency funding] does become available, you can capture it,” he said. “It’s not always a guarantee that there’s going to be enough money to do that full streetscape and add that on if you’re just going for 2029.”
He said Brookfield can opt to defer contingency funding in 2027 if it needs to and still look for funding in 2028 that would be ahead of schedule.
With the support of trustees, Village President Michael Garvey called for resolutions to approve the first two phases of work to be put up for a vote at the board’s Nov. 10 meeting.
