The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) on Thursday approved plans by utility Ameren Corp. to construct a $1.1-billion, 380-mile high-voltage power line across sections of central Illinois. Known as the Illinois Rivers Transmission Project, the line will be the largest of its kind in Illinois history as well as the largest undertaken by St. Louis-based Ameren. The utility says the line will promote delivery of low-cost power while improving the reliability and efficiency of the power grid.The project also “will provide Illinois customers greater access to alternative lower-cost energy sources, including wind energy,” says Maureen Borkowski, CEO with Ameren subsidiary Ameren
The Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) Board on Wednesday made a preliminary selection of a Dutch-led team to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain a 21-mile section of Interstate 69 (I-69) extending between Bloomington and Martinsville. If fully approved by IFA and Indiana Gov. Mark Pence, Isolux Infrastructure Netherlands B.V., will break ground on the $325-million section later this year and open it to traffic by December 2016. In addition to Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Grupo Isolux Corsan S.A., team members include AZTEC Engineering Group Inc., and TYPSA (Technica y Projectos S.A.)Begun in 2007, the multi-year, multiphase extension of
Construction employment plunged in the Midwest, as in other regions, in December, according month-to-month comparisons compiled by Arlington, Va.- based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Ohio proved the exception in the Midwest, adding 4,000 jobs in December, a turnabout after several months of declines. By comparison, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin posted job losses ranging from -1.900 to -7,000. From November to December, construction employment decreased in 32 states and increased in 18 states. Gains tended to be modest, in the 1% to 3% range.Though the onset of winter may account for December's declines, “we want to make
The Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission (SHTC) has suspended a cost-share program designed to accelerate construction of local road projects, citing intent to focus only on maintenance due to a funding shortfall. The 15-year old program helped expedite more than 175 road projects in Missouri. Though the state will complete projects included in its five-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, it won't add to the program's pipeline, says SHTC Chairman Joe Carmichael.“At this point, it would be irresponsible to make that promise to citizens when we don't have the money to get those projects built,” Carmichael indicated at transportation conference
Plans to upgrade an Illinois rail line for high-speed travel could proceed as early as this summer, state transportation officials say. Officials also indicated they are targeting a late 2015 completion date for the $265-million passenger line, which will extend between Chicago and Moline. As planned, track, signal, station and rolling stock improvements will occur on trackway extending between Chicago and Wyanet, where new track will link to Iowa Interstate Railroad, carrying service to Moline.The line initially will accommodate two daily round trips per day at speeds up to 79 mph, with an expected travel time of three hours in
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has shortlisted four development teams to construct a 35-mile portion of “Illiana” Expressway, a planned 47-mile corridor linking major Illinois and Indiana highways. Earlier this month, the four teams responded to a request for qualifications to construct portions of the corridor extending through Indiana. As planned, the $1.5-billion Illiana would connect I-65 in northwest Indiana to I-55 in northeast Illinois, about 58-miles south of Chicago, thereby relieving truck congestion on I-80, an east-west corridor in closer proximity to the city.State transportation officials expect Illiana to generate $2.4 billion to $3.8 billion over the life
Construction employment showed continued signs of stabilization in several Midwest states in November, with Missouri (9.8%, 10,000 jobs) and Wisconsin (4.3%, 4,000 jobs) leading the way in year-over-year comparisons, according to data compiled by Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Illinois, a leader in job losses during the recession, also fared well (2.6%, 4,700 jobs), as did Michigan (2%, 2,500 jobs), despite ongoing fiscal crisis in Detroit.On a percentage basis, employment gains in Missouri were the third greatest in the nation.Indiana (-3.4%, -4,100 jobs) and Ohio (-2.9%, -5,200 jobs) logged employment declines in November, continuing a trend begun
Evanston, Ill.-based Northwestern University has selected architect Perkins + Will to design a $370-million, 600,000-sq-ft biomedical research center for its medical campus in downtown Chicago. The Chicago-based firm was selected from a field of three contenders, including joint-venture teams Goettsch Partners and Ballinger, of Chicago and Philadelphia, respectively, and Chicago-based Gordon Gill Architecture, which partnered with Payette, a Boston-based architect.The facility will be constructed on a site occupied by Prentice Women's Hospital, a 1975 structure designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg, designer Chicago's Marina City, a pair of multifamily high rises constructed in 1964. Although preservation groups lobbied Northwestern to adapt
A planned privately funded tollway linking Illinois and Indiana cleared a key hurdle Thursday when a regional planning board in Indiana approved the project following months of debate. A similar board in Illinois approved the project in October. Next step for Illinois and Indiana Departments of Transportation (IDOT, INDOT) is to secure federal approval for the $1.5-billion “Illiana” Expressway, a 47-mile corridor that would connect I-65 in northwest Indiana to I-57 and I-55 in northeast Illinois, about 58 miles south of Chicago.If built, Illiana would be the first project of its kind in Illinois financed under a public-private partnership. As
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday urged baseball's Chicago Cubs to begin work on a $500-million overhaul of Wrigley Field the city approved last summer. “They need to get started,” Emanuel told reporters. “The city has lived up to everything it said it was going to do in a timely fashion...and I expect them and other invested interests to resolve their issues so the whole city can benefit.”Since July, Cubs management repeatedly has expressed reluctance to proceed with the project until it has resolved complaints that renovations would block views of neighborhood rooftop owners, who have contracted with Cubs to
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