Claar: Boughton Road Construction Could Be Delayed

Construction to repair a bumpy eastbound portion of Boughton Road could be delayed until next year if progress on the project isn't made soon, Mayor Roger Claar said.

Claar said the village is waiting on the Illinois Department of Transportation to bid out the contract. IDOT opened the bid on Sept. 23, but Claar said if state bureaucracy holds up the bidding process, the project could be pushed back to next spring.

"Completion of the project all depends on how quickly IDOT awards the contract and gets started," he said. "I am hoping that we will get it done before the snow flies. I do not want to see the road torn up with barricades sitting there on the corner and then we can't get it done. (If that were the case) I would suggest moving it to the spring."

The village has been planning the $3 million project since February. Ultimately, the entire eastbound portion of Boughton Road from Sunshine Drive to Schmidt Road will be repaved in efforts to fix the rough portion of road. 

Claar said an underground ComEd junction box has caused the eastbound lanes of Boughton Road to become bumpy each and ever winter for the past several years.

When retail giants such as ,  and  began building on Bolingbrook’s west side, village officials quickly widened Boughton Raod to accommodate the spike in traffic.

But just a few years later, ComEd officials cut into the road to install a junction encasement that was required to provide enough power to the expanding west side of town.

That construction produced cracks in the road, which allowed water to seep in. When mixed with freezing temperatures each winter, that moisture froze and expanded, causing the land underneath Boughton Road to shift.

The village received a $2 million federal grant to help complete the project. Claar said the village still needs to sit down with ComEd officials to seek out financial relief from the electrical company.

Claar said the project, when started, will take about two or three weeks to complete.

If delayed, Bolingbrook motorists will likely be dealing with another winter of bumpy Boughton Road.

"We'll be cutting it close," he said.