On
June 28 the Illinois Toll Highway Authority board is expected to award a $70
million no bid program management contract for its $12.1 billion, 15 year congestion
relief construction plan, dubbed “Move Illinois,” to Kanas City based HNTB, an
employee owned engineering and project management business, based on approval
of the Missouri firm last night by the Tollway’s Finance Administration
Operations Committee. The committee preferred HNTB over New York City based Parsons
Brinkerhoff. No one has explained why Chicago based construction management
firm Jones Lang LaSalle, also on the ENR “Top 100” list of capable and
successful construction managers, was not under consideration.
Despite
the size of the budget for the outside and out of state program manager, the
Tollway also has budgeted an additional $17 million for salaries of 35
engineers and other permanent staffers to manage Move Illinois over the next
five years. Construction projects to be paid for with Move Illinois funds,
raised by increasing Tollway tolls a hefty 87.5%, include rebuilding and
widening I-90, the state’s first modern toll highway, a new West Bypass between
Elgin and O’Hare Field, and a new interchange connecting I-294 with I-57 south
of Chicago.
It
remains a mystery why no Illinois based heavy civil contracting firms or
program management firms were under consideration for this huge no bid deal,
especially at a time when local engineers, project managers and skilled tradespeople
are still looking for work in the downtrodden construction sector of the state’s
economy. Apparently keeping $70 million in tolls paid mostly by Illinois
citizens in our own state’s construction economy is a very low priority for the
Toll Highway Authority.
