West Parking Lot Project Moves Ahead in Libertyville

After a snag in May due to soil contamination, workers recently found more contaminated soil in the West Parking Lot. This time, however, crews are moving right along with construction.

, which will bury utilities underground on the lot behind the rear of businesses on Milwaukee Avenue and Village Hall. .

In early June, . Public Works Director John Heinz says there is an $11,000 change order to cover the cost of dealing with the contaminated soil. The order is expected to go before the Village Board at the June 28 board meeting.

“The cost includes hauling, disposal and testing for the contaminated soil,” Heinz said.

With experience from the previous soil contamination, construction was not affected by the latest discovery of contaminated soil.

“We have new protocols in place so we didn’t stop construction this time,” he said

Surface Reconstruction Slated For July

The reconstruction of the surface is likely to start after Fourth of July and be substantially completed by Oct. 1. All overhead utility poles should be switched to the underground system by fall, according to Heinz.

“(A-Lamp’s) first operation is putting the sidewalk in, so we have this pedestrian link going from (Cook Avenue to the parking garage),” Heinz said.

After that workers will put in curbs, a series of storm sewers in the northern part of the lot, tear up asphalt and pour concrete in the lot.

The improved utility system will allow workers to isolate problems while still providing electricity to other areas. With the old utility system, if there was a problem at one section, power would be down for all businesses utilizing that electricity line, according to Heinz.

Some Parking Available During Construction

During the reconstruction, the village plans to close the west section of the parking lot and leave portions of the northern and southern lot open, so there will be some parking space available.

“We talk to (A-Lamp) about 100 percent access for all the buildings back there when they take materials out,” Heinz said. “There is plans to pour concrete in stages, so there’s always access to businesses, especially for those that only have one entrance.”

The village plans to communicate with businesses so they know when work may affect their access points. The village also plans to send out a construction advisory note indicating how crews will stage the construction.

Once completed the improved West Parking Lot will have a total of 94 parking spaces, 83 will be open to the public, five will be private and six will be reserved. Improvement to the West Parking Lot is expected to cost $1.3 million and is funded through a tax-increment financing district.