Division Street from Thatcher to Harlem avenues will be resurfaced this summer as part of a $1.7 million series of infrastructure upgrades slated for River Forest this summer.
Water and sewer mains will be relined and streets also will be resurfaced this year. Money-saving LED lights also will be installed along several main streets as well.
All told, the village won’t be as busy infrastructure-wise as it was in 2015 when the north side of town was all-consumed with the massive Northside Stormwater Separation Project. The project took in an area from Greenfield Street from Keystone Avenue east to Harlem Avenue.
Division Street resurfacing had already been on the drawing board and designed when River Forest’s largest infrastructure project began last year. The street already wasn’t in good shape; the heavy vehicles that traversed it for the more than six months didn’t help, said John Anderson, River Forest’s public works director.
Now the asphalt will be milled down and a new overlay put on; the striping will be redone as well, said Anderson.
Each sidewalk leading up to an adjacent intersection will be outfitted with handicapped-accessible ramps. Work on Division is likely to begin this July, Anderson added.
Already under way is a project to reline an 8-inch water main on Thatcher Avenue from Chicago to Augusta avenues.
The main will be flushed to clear out of mineral deposits several times before a liner with the rigidity of a PVC pipe is installed. A new hydrant will be installed at Thatcher and Chicago as well. The project is expected to take up to six weeks, Anderson said.
Seventeen homes affected by the work will continue to have access to water as a temporary main will be set up at the curb line and fed into people’s homes. The parking lane on the east side of Thatcher Avenue will be closed off, Anderson said.
The main, which has failed off and on for years, will be relined rather than replaced because there is no room under the roadway for a new one, Anderson said.
Sewer relining also will be done on Keystone Avenue and on Forest Avenue from Division south to Chicago. A timetable for that has not yet been set.
Last year, side streets throughout town were retrofitted with LED light fixtures. This year, the energy-efficient street lights will be installed on Division Street, Chicago Avenue and Washington Street from Thatcher to Harlem. No timetable for this work has been set yet, Anderson said.
