Riverside staff have been successful in their request that the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago nearly double its funding for the construction of a floodwall along Groveland Avenue.
Village Manager Jessica Frances announced at the board’s Feb. 20 meeting that the MWRD had agreed to increase its share of the cost of the project from $2.5 million to $4.9 million. Trustees approved an amendment to Riverside’s intergovernmental agreement with the MWRD to formalize the funding hike at the meeting without discussion.
“In the spring and summer of last year, the village board discussed modification to the design that was presented by [the United States] Army Corps of Engineers based on the increase in the cost,” Frances said. “Since that time, as reported previously, we submitted all the required documents for the additional funding. It was before the MWRD board; it was then authorized for them to issue an amended IGA, which then was reviewed by our legal counsel and their legal counsel.”
At a meeting last March, trustees learned the expected total price for the project had increased from $7.2 million – a figure that remained the same from 2018 through 2023 – to $17.9 million with the design the Army Corps was pursuing. In April, the board directed the Army Corps to design the floodwall with one pump station rather than the originally-planned two alongside a sewer separation north of Forest Avenue.
This change brought the total cost down to $16.5 million, though it did not include the price of the sewer separation. At a September board meeting, Frances told trustees the cost was estimated at $925,000, but Riverside was set to receive up to $1 million for the separation from Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García’s office.
With “additional runoff costs” for the sewer separation of about $400,000, Frances in September estimated a total price of $18 million for both projects. But between $10 million in federal Congressional funding, $5 million in MWRD funding and $1 million from García’s office, Riverside is set to pay only $2 million from its own coffers on that total.
Between the unexpected funding setbacks and many moving pieces, Frances said in September that the floodwall can be expected to reach conclusion by late 2028 at the earliest, though work may continue into 2029.