Oak Lawn is moving forward with plans to replace lighting along 95th Street, which includes the village’s downtown, with the help of a $722,000 grant.
The Village Board unanimously approved an engineering contract Tuesday to complete lighting upgrades and a nearly $15 million bid to construct the planned Polaris Intermediate School stormwater storage basin.
Existing light fixtures lining 95th Street from 54th Avenue to Cicero Avenue are outdated and need to be replaced with modern LED fixtures, village officials said. The village’s grant administrator worked with the Southwest Conference of Mayors to secure the funding.
Strand Associates, Inc., an engineering consulting firm based in Joliet, was hired for $125,000 to complete the work, including surveying and providing environmental review of the 95th Street corridor. The village will pay the entire cost of engineering services and share the overall project cost with the Southwest Conference of Mayors, which provided the $722,000 grant for light replacement, according to assistant village manager Jerry Dillon.
“This stretch of roadway is a critical six-lane connector serving local businesses, commuter lots, the Metra Patriot Station and nearby communities, while also providing direct access to Interstate 294,” Dillon said in an email to the Daily Southtown. “The corridor is heavily traveled, with more than 80 Oak Lawn commercial operations and frequent ambulance traffic to Advocate Christ Medical Center and Little Company of Mary Hospital.”
Dillon said fixtures and bulbs used in existing equipment have been discontinued, making replacements costly and inefficient. The new lights will use Energy Star–rated LED technology to improve safety and visibility, reduce energy costs and ensure faster, more reliable maintenance, he said.
Sidewalk and curb ramp upgrades are also part of the project, with Strand Associates to design new sidewalks in up to 150 locations, with up to 10-feet long sections in line with Americans with Disability Act requirements.
Polaris project updates
The Village Board also chose Acura Inc. to head construction on a stormwater detention basin near Polaris Intermediate School.
While Oak Lawn officials in June said they expected the project to cost $13 million, with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago paying up to $6.5 million and the village covering the rest, the lowest bid from Acura was $14,996,055. The highest bid received was from V3 Construction Group, at $18.7 million, officials said.
Trustee Ralph Soch, whose district includes the project area at 107th and Kilpatrick Avenue, encouraged residents to come to a community meeting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at the District 218 Administrative Center, 10701 S. Kilpatrick Ave. Soch said village officials will go over truck routes, traffic flow and other details while providing time for questions and discussion.
“It’s an open forum — residents can come out and ask questions,” Soch said. “They’re going to get a lot of information.”
Mayor Terry Vorderer said the stormwater detention project, aimed at alleviating flooding during major storms, is probably the biggest public works project the village has done in his lifetime.
“And it’s going to be the most disruptive for the people in the neighborhood over there,” Vorderer said.
In addition to constructing the basin in the fields near Polaris Intermediate School, the village will replace more than 6,600 feet of storm sewers with larger pipes, ranging from 30 inches to 5 feet in diameter.
“When it’s all done, I think we’ll have a major impact on the flooding conditions people in that area have experienced every time we get one of these major rainstorms, which seem to come every couple of years now,” Vorderer said.
Construction on the stormwater basin is expected to begin in November and wrap up in spring 2027.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com