Road construction projects reach all corners of Oak Park

Updated: June 11, 2012 8:19AM

All 28 blocks of Oak Park’s western border at Harlem Avenue are scheduled to be resurfaced this summer. But that’s only part of what village residents will be dealing with.

The village released a draft list Friday of 200 blocks of village streets that will undergo roadwork to some extent. The work will range from minor “micro-surfacing,” surface crack filling and pavement patching, to complete roadbed reconstruction and water and sewer line improvements.

It’s part of $4.4 million in planned improvements this summer and into the fall. The municipal construction season generally runs from May through November, though actual work isn’t expected to start until sometime in mid-June.

Underground Nicor Gas supply lines will also be repaired or replaced by the utility, mostly in northwest Oak Park.

The scheduled work includes reconstructing 23 blocks of roadway and what called “mill and fill” of another 20 blocks. That involves the same process occurring on Harlem, where the top three inches of asphalt is ground off and replaced.

The balance of the roadwork involves patching, crack-filling and “microsurfacing,” basically sealing the top of the road surface in order to prevent the infiltration of water and limit further deterioration of the pavement surface. Such maintenance extends the useful life of a roadway three to five years.

Alley work

Acting Oak Park Village Engineer Bill McKenna said design work is under way for rebuilding 10 alleys and street resurfacing projects. Alley improvements will be bid on May 10, and street resurfacing bid in late May.

That works takes between two and three weeks to finish, depending on circumstances. It requires blocking off access of homeowners and businesses to their alleys, including garages. Overnight street parking is allowed during this period.

Pavement patching, crack filling and microsurfacing projects are expected to be approved by the village board in late May.

For all street work except for resurfacing, each operation requires full closure of the block to traffic and parking for about half a day. The contractor will post “No Parking” signs 48 hours in advance of the work. Daily work will begins at approximately 7 a.m. and end by 6 p.m.

Alley reconstruction, a four-phase project, takes a total of 11 or 12 days to complete.

“For the street resurfacing projects, we try to maintain access to the roads as much as possible,” said McKenna.

Most impact

Still, some areas will be inconvenienced more than others.

A four block-long stretch of South Boulevard and North Boulevard between Oak Park Avenue and Home Avenue will have both water and sewer work followed by reconstruction and resurfacing of the roadbed.

The 100 block of North Kenilworth Avenue to the north between the Oak Park Main Post Office and Unity Temple will also see sewer work and complete reconstruction of the roadbed.

The same process occurring along Harlem Avenue — called “mill and fill” resurfacing — will take place on an eight block stretch of Jackson Boulevard between Ridgeland Avenue and Oak Park Avenue.

The 100 and 200 blocks of North Scoville Avenue along the length of Oak Park-River Forest High School will be undergo crack filling this summer, as well as surface and pavement patching.

Nine other residential blocks will also see both sewer or water line work along with total road reconstruction, including the 500 and 600 blocks of North Humphrey Avenue, the 100 and 200 blocks of S. Taylor Avenue, the 800 block of North Elmwood Avenue, the first and 100 block of LeMoyne Parkway and the 300 block of South Clinton Avenue.

Residents of the 1200 block of North Lombard, just northwest of the LeMoyne work, will endure perhaps the most disruption to their routines this summer, as both their street and their alley are totally reconstructed.

Residents of the 800 block of North Harvey Avenue with see both mill and fill resurfacing on their street and reconstruction of their alley.

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