Bridge Project Work Moves Forward
by Randy Pierce
TROY — According to an announcement by the Illinois Department of Transportation, Keller Construction of Glen Carbon has been awarded a bid for bridge replacement work on Lebanon Road near Troy, a project that is anticipated to take nearly two years before its tentative completion in November 2025.
The IDOT bid opening held this month saw Keller’s quoted estimated for the work coming in at $17,444,384.23, making it the lowest of the final three considered. The others came from Keeley & Sons Inc. of East St. Louis ($18,748.425) and Plocher Construction of Highland ($19,797,000).
As updated by Madison County Highway Department Engineer Adam Walden for the county board transportation committee, chaired by Bobby Ross of St. Jacob, earlier this month, the realignment of Lebanon Road in conjunction with this project will include the removal of existing structures and the building of a new six-span steel plate girder bridge where an old one over the CSX Railroad line currently exists.
Box culverts, pavement removal where it is no longer needed, processing of lime modified soil, new pavement, shoulders, curb and gutter, tree removal, utility relocation as necessary and storm sewer components are all part of the work to be done at this location in Collinsville Township which is .19 miles east of Clay School Road over the railroad line.
The bridge replacement, which Walden described as one of the more significant major projects to be undertaken this year on roads within the county’s jurisdiction, as opposed to those located in municipalities or part of the state highway network, is being funded in large part, he added, by $15.6 million pledged by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Another $1 million will be put toward construction engineering necessary for the bridge replacement while the county has already spent, Walden noted, $2.15 million on preliminary engineering. An additional $1 to $1.4 million will be included in the cost for what Walden referred to as “force account work” that involves labor, materials and related expenses that will be billed to the contractor.
Weather permitting, Walden stated the work is anticipated to begin in February with tree removal as one of the first steps in the process.
A hearing before the Illinois Commerce Commission was conducted in June which resulted in its formal approval for Madison County to proceed with plans to construct the new overpass.
Resistance to the project from officials representing CSX had stalled the plans until the ruling came down after the June 23 ICC hearing, one of the issues at hand then concerning the use of the railroad’s easements for the needed construction work.
Another example of the bureaucratic red tape which was part of this project reaching its current status saw Walden being represented by John Gilbert, assistant state’s attorney for the county, at the hearing conducted by the ICC hearing.
As part of its costs and spelled out in the ICC statement, the county is also required to reimburse CSX for any expense it incurs related to the project. Specified in the “agreed order” as it is defined by the ICC too, the new bridges over the CSX tracks are needed to replace “functionally obsolete” underpasses on Lebanon Road and near Lockmann Road which is east of the Lumaghi Heights subdivision in Collinsville Township.
Residential development and increased motor vehicle traffic in this part of Madison County are major factors in the need to upgrade the roads and bridges as planned.
Lochmueller Group, an engineering services business located in Troy, in 2023 was contracted by Madison County to provide its services as required concerning the relocation of a portion of Lebanon Road where it crosses the CSX Railroad line in Collinsville Township.
Yet another bridge project in the fast-growing area north of Troy has received support from Madison County as a result of legislation approved on Wednesday, Jan. 17. The county board unanimously passed a resolution then to pledge 75% of the estimated $1.4 million needed, including engineering and construction, for the replacement of a bridge on Maple Grove Road in Pin Oak Township.
Applicable where Maple Grove crosses the Wendell Branch stream of water, the commitment from the county toward this project comes for the in conjunction with legislation it has had in place since 1974 regarding the support of township road districts facing such needs.
The request for the county’s support came from Pin Oak Township Highway Commissioner Robert Helms who pledged that the government entity he represents will fund the remaining 25 per cent of the cost.
Maple Grove Road runs in a generally east-west direction north of Interstate 270/70 and east of Interstate 55 north of Troy.
