The Tinley Park Village Board of Trustees will be working with the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways to pay for 175th Street engineering.
In a unanimous decision, Tinley Park officials agreed to secure a deal, which provides $482,562 in funds to reimburse the Village for costs incurred.
“I’ll just say this is long overdue, and we’re hoping the county gets [funding to support the project] on their budget right away, so we can get this taken care,” Mayor Jacob Vandenberg said.
Improvements will consist of reconstruction to accommodate one traffic lane in each direction along 175th Street from Oak Park Avenue to Ridgeland Avenue, Ridgeland Avenue from 175th Street to Oak Forest Avenue, and Oak Forest Avenue from Ridgeland Avenue to 167th Street.
The project introduces an added turn lane, curb and gutter improvements, water main replacements, new sidewalks, street lighting and sign improvements.
Plans for this particular reconstruction date back to April 2009 when the Village prepared a preliminary engineering study report for the area in question.
In 2016, the Village agreed to kick-start the project by paying for an update of the engineering study report. At that point, Tinley Park and Cook County officials approved a letter of understanding for preliminary work.
While Cook County is paying for 100 percent of the 175th Street reconstruction project, the Village is responsible for costs that incurred for work that extends outside the project’s scope. As such, Tinley Park officials will not be reimbursed for replacing water mains, constructing new sidewalks, adding street lighting or installing permanent traffic signals.
The Village’s Public Works Committee recently reviewed the pact and provided a positive recommendation to the board.
However, Tinley Park officials will need to weigh in on another intergovernmental agreement with Cook County at a later date to address the construction of improvements, which will consist of an arrangement to transfer jurisdiction of roads from the County to the Village.
Also at the meeting, officials agreed to appoint Christopher Burke Engineering to handle general engineering services for the Village.
The matter was discussed recently by members of Tinley Park’s Public Works Committee. At that level, the Village Board received a positive recommendation.
The job involves serving as a consulting engineer with the ability to sign documents. Board action provided the Village with support until a new staff engineer is hired.
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Round It Up
A brief recap of Tinley Park Village Board action from the Aug. 1 regular meeting:
Tinley Park officials recognized two of the Tinley Park Fire Department's members. Engineer Michael Wittman recently earned the rank of lieutenant, and firefighter William Turner Jr. was promoted as an engineer.
The first reading of an ordinance to grant a special use permit for a Verizon Wireless cell tower in the southeast corner of 6775 Prosperi Drive took place.