Lincoln aldermen hear two plans for Tremont Street

 

[February 29, 2024] 

Tuesday evening, February 27, 2024 the Lincoln City council met for the second Committee of the Whole meeting for February. The agenda was light with one priority topic regarding Tremont Street between North Logan and Union Street being one of the lengthier portions of the meeting.

The city had heard in weeks prior that the Tremont Street project was not going to be feasible for the Rebuild Illinois funds that had originally been earmarked for the reconstruction of that road. The timelines were not going to work out because the State Historic Preservation Office would need to sign off on a portion of the project. The time needed for that office to respond to a request was going to exceed the deadline for when the Rebuild money would have to be fully expended.

Aldermen reluctantly took the street off the 2024 construction schedule, but also said they wanted to see another plan sooner rather than later.

Tuesday evening the request for a new plan was answered by Shane Remmert of Crawford Murphy and Tilly, the city’s contracted engineers for road work.

The first plan presented was for the reconstruction of the street. It is the most expensive plan, with the longest timeline to completion. However, Remmert said that the life of the road would be 20 years or more, compared to the second plan with a life of only 10 years maximum.

In the reconstruction plan, preliminary engineering would cost $183,100 and would begin in June of 2024 with an estimated completion date of March 2025.

There would be letting out for bid after the design was approved and finalized, then there would be an intent that the construction would begin in May 2025 and would be completed in November 2026. The total estimated cost of the construction would be $1,526,000. The construction would run across two “seasons” or budget years and would take up almost the entire budget for each year.

The second proposal was for a resurfacing project that would take less time and cost less money, though it would still take the entire budget for road construction in the budget year. The downside to the less expensive plan is that it would not address all the needs of the street and the work would have a life of only 10 years.

With plan two for resurfacing only the preliminary engineering budget would be $84,000. Construction costs would come to an estimated $763,000. The time timeline would be June through October 2024 for the design work and construction would be done between April and October 2025.

It was also noted in the memo delivered to aldermen that the estimated construction costs do not include the cost of utility relocations or the construction engineering services.

Remmert said he would ask if there were any comments or questions from the aldermen. Alderman Kevin Bateman was the first to speak offering his endorsement for the more expensive plan. He said that he had been taught an expression if you don’t have time to do it right the first time, when will you have time to do it over again? He said 20 years or more compared to ten years or less made it obvious to him that the best plan would be to go for the 20-year plan.

Alderman Steve Parrott asked about the costs increasing between now and 2025-2026? Remmert said, yes there is an opportunity for costs to increase. He said that just like many people look at the CPI (consumer price index) there is a CCI (construction cost index) that does dictate that costs will go up over time. He said the key point to make though was that delaying decisions will mean stretching the timeline out even further, and with each stretch, the potential for costs to increase will be present.

He explained that one key component of holding the price will be in the bid award. He said once the city goes out for bid on the project and chooses the contractor, the contractor bid will be the dollar amount held to throughout the construction in regard to known materials and labor.

Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs said she was in agreement with Bateman that the larger project was the right project to pursue. She asked about the sidewalk and stair construction at the historic home on the corner of Tremont and North Ottawa. Remmert said there was engineering and surveying that would have to be done, as part of the CMT design project. He said that for sake of the vote this coming week, the question would be which program to support and consequently the design work that would be included and conducted by CMT.

It was noted that the reconstruction project would take two years to complete and would take up almost all of the street and alley budget for both of those two years. The exact costs will be determined as the work progresses. Remmert said that he would come back to the council with work orders that would have more precise numbers.

Mayor Tracy Welch said that for the sake of clarity, the council should vote in the Monday March 3rd meeting on a motion to approve the reconstruction plan. The request was made for the item to be placed on the agenda.

The Monday agenda includes under new business (9B) “Approval of the plan for reconstruction of Tremon Street from Union Street to Logan Street in F.Y. 2024-2025 and F.Y. 2025-2026.”

As is always the case, aldermen have the right to table any voting item if they feel they are not fully prepared to render an informed decision.

It should be noted that Monday March 3rd will be the first meeting where the council will meet at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. Aldermen voted in February to change the meeting time to 6 p.m. permanently starting with the first meeting in March 2024.

[Nila Smith]