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March 14, 2015 • Vol. IXX • No. 6 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910
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Inside
Crews Rebuild I-90 as State-of-the-Art Corridor By Lori Lovely CEG CORRESPONDENT
McCann Taps Jim McCann as CEO...8
NTEA Wor k Truck Show Rolls Into Indy...14
The Illinois Tollway is rebuilding and widening 62 mi. (99.8 km) of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90) as a 21st century, state-of-the-art corridor linking Rockford to O’Hare International Airport, as Dan Rozek, senior manager of communications. Illinois Tollway, describes it. Prior to the opening of the 76-mi. (122.3 km) portion of the Tollway in August 1958, the first vehicle to officially use the roadway was a covered wagon driven by a local resident. This section, originally called the Northwest Tollway, was renamed for Jane Addams, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Settlement House movement, in September 2007. It is the only tollway in
Illinois with a U.S. highway running along it. Because most of the Tollway’s infrastructure is more than 55 years old, it has degraded due to residential and commercial growth that has strained it beyond capacity. Repeated resurfacing and repair work are no longer able to extend its life. Commuters complain of increased delays while local business owners bemoan weakened economic activity because of it. The $2.5 billion project is part of the Tollway’s 15-year, $12 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future, a 15-year, $12 billion capital program approved by the Illinois Tollway board of directors. The four-year project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016. In see TOLLWAY page 70
AED Issues Statement on Detroit-Windsor Bridge Ir onPla net Giv es CEG Excl usiv e Tour. ..9 0
Table of Contents ............4
AED President & CEO Brian McGuire issued the following statement in response to the announcement on Feb. 18 that the U.S. and Canadian governments had reached an agreement to clear the way for construction of the New International Trade Crossing (NITC) bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. “The announcement that construction of the new Detroit-Windsor bridge can finally get underway is welcome news. AED estimates the $2 billion project see BRIDGE page 96
Asphalt, Concrete, Paving, Compaction & Milling Section ......................39-65 Business Calendar ........87 Auction Section ........89-97 Advertisers Index ..........98
In October 2014, work was completed on the 37-mi. (59.5 km) western portion of I-90, which was widened from four lanes to six lanes between Elgin and I-39 in Rockford.
Construction Spending Increases in January Construction spending rose modestly in January from year-earlier levels despite retreating from a six-year high in December, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned, however, that those spending gains could be at risk if Congress and the Obama administration fail to address highway funding
shortfalls that once again threaten a new road repair season. “Construction continues to expand overall but with a lot of variability by month and segment,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The generally positive trends are obscured by an unreliable estimate for residential improvements, which purportedly shows
a huge downturn that is inconsistent with other data.” Construction spending in January totaled $971 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 1.1 percent lower than in December but 1.8 percent higher than in January 2014, Simonson noted. The divergent totals were reflected as see SPENDING page 91