Village to Receive Federal Funding for McCarthy Road Improvements

Plans to improve the busy McCarthy Road triangle moved forward last week with the village approving an engineering services agreement for federal funding.

During their Nov. 28 business meeting, trustees unanimously approved an agreement with Frank Novotny and Associates to engineer improvements to McCarthy Road, west of Derby Road to east of Archer Avenue.

According to Village Administrator Ben Wehmeier, Lemont has been awarded federal funding through the Southwest Conference of Mayors to cover construction engineering of the project, which will include pavement widening, resurfacing, intersection channelization, traffic control signals, and all necessary traffic control and restoration.

The engineering agreement amount is $373,358, with the maximum village share being $74,672. Federal funds will cover 70 percent of the services, while the remaining cost is covered by the village and matching state funds, according to village documents.

The total estimated cost of McCarthy Road construction is $2,795,676, according to Wehmeier.

Village trustees also approved last week a Local Agency Agreement for Federal Participation with the Illinois Department of Transportation. The agreement will allow the village to procure $2,041,350 in federal funds and $327,660 in matching state funds.

The village has $800,024 available for costs not covered by federal or state funding, according to village documents.

The McCarthy Road project will go out to bid Jan. 20, 2012. A pre-construction meeting is tentatively set for March 11, 2012.

If all goes according to plan, construction will begin in April and finish in November, village officials said.