On January 25, 2018, the Village of Villa Park received the American Public Works Association (APWA) Suburban Branch Public Works Project of the Year for its work in the disaster or emergency construction/repair category of less than $5 million.

The award was bestowed for the Village’s response to an emergency bridge repair on St. Charles Road over Salt Creek, following notice in August 2017 that the bridge rating had been lowered by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). With a 15-ton weight restriction taking immediate effect, the Village sprang into action to address this public safety concern and a potential traffic bottleneck.

“Our Public Works Department should be congratulated for bringing all parties together on short notice in tackling this emergency situation,” says Villa Park Village President Al Bulthuis. “I’m also quite proud of our staff accomplishing a key public safety goal at minimal cost to taxpayers – less than $70,000 was expended overall.”

According to the APWA, the Public Works Project of the Year Award is designed to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works projects. “Our annual award program celebrates the best of what we do in Public Works,” says Jeff Maczko, Awards Co-Chair for the APWA Suburban Branch. “This year’s awards committee felt that the culmination of intergovernmental partnering, a unique use of the design-build contract, and the expedited timeframe in which the work was completed made the St. Charles Road Bridge Emergency Repair Project a true deserving recipient of the award.”     

The Village Board approved proceeding with a temporary repair of the St. Charles Road Bridge in September 2017. The Public Works Department then partnered with the engineering consulting firm V3 Companies to assemble a team in maintaining the 15-ton weight limit until the bridge is reconstructed. Emergency work included lane reconfigurations, support beam installations, re-routing of PACE buses, changeable message boards, and more.

Posing with the Village of Villa Park's “Project of the Year” award during the January 25, 2018 ceremony are (from left to right) Mike Famiglietti and Mike Rechtorik (both from V3 Companies), Assistant Village Engineer Jeremie Lukowicz, Village Public Works Director Vydas Juskelis, Village Deputy Director of Public Works Rich Salerno, Village Manager Rich Keehner, and Lou Gallucci (also from V3 Companies).