State Capital Bill Last Hurdle for Orchard Road Widening

If all the stars align, the Orchard Road widening project could begin shortly after July 4—and for significantly less money than expected.

The Kane County Division of Transportation is set to widen Orchard from two lanes to four, roughly between Jericho Road in Aurora and Route 30 in Montgomery. That area of road sees an average of 35,000 cars daily, according to KDOT’s most recent figures, and that section is the only place where Orchard collapses to two lanes.

According to KDOT project manager Paul Holcomb, the cost of the project was originally estimated at $18.5 million. The results of the bid process were a sign of the still-faltering economy: the county received 12 bids, and the lowest, from Plote Construction, came in at $9.3 million—about 47 percent below the estimate.

“There are a lot of contractors looking for work,” Holcomb said. “We didn’t realize that they were that hungry.”

KDOT has acquired all the property needed for the project, Holcomb said. Now the only thing holding it up is the Illinois Department of Transportation, which must formally award the contract, since state and federal money will go into the construction. (Update: IDOT awarded the contract Monday.)

And the only thing holding that up, according to Kane County Board member Jesse Vazquez, is the passage of the state’s capital bill. Near the end of the recent legislative session, State Senate Democrats added education and social service spending to the bill, which funds road and bridge projects throughout the state, but the House refused to support it.

The session ended May 31, without a capital bill making it to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk. But state legislators plan to reconvene in a special session Wednesday with the intention of passing a capital bill without any of the disputed additions.

State Sen. Linda Holmes said she doesn’t anticipate leaving Springfield on Wednesday without a capital bill in place, despite the fact that, because the May 31 deadline for the legislative session has passed, a three-fifths majority will be required to pass anything.

“I think we definitely agree that a capital bill is a top priority,” she said.

Once that is in place and the contract is awarded, the project can get rolling, Holcomb said. The construction will span two seasons, with two of the four lanes being built over the summer and autumn, and the other two next year, starting in March. By next summer, he said, the bottleneck will be no more.

This is good news for Montgomery, according to Charlene Coulombe-Fiore, executive director of the .

“It’s important not only to Montgomery but to Aurora and Oswego, since there’s an exit off the highway there,” she said.

Coulombe-Fiore said seeing the bids come in so low was exciting, and she hopes the county uses that extra money for other projects in the area, especially the widening of Montgomery Road. Between that, Orchard, and the recently announced , she said, the benefits to Montgomery could be immense.

“We’re very excited,” she said. “Everyone in Montgomery will be affected when this is all fixed.”