Dixon council OKs engineering agreement for construction of pedestrian bridge across Rock River

DIXON – The Dixon City Council approved an engineering agreement Monday for the construction of a pedestrian bridge across the Rock River that is expected to take about two years to complete.

Project Rock will extend the multi-use path that runs west of Heritage Crossing with a pedestrian bridge over the river using the old Illinois Central Railroad piers, construct an additional 2.8 miles of multi-use path and resurface just under a mile of Page Drive, which is maintained by the Dixon Park District.

It’s being funded by an estimated $12 million grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program. In June, the city agreed to contribute $788,000 of local infrastructure funds to its construction.

IDOT put the project out for bid in September. Willett Hofmann & Associates, an engineering consultant firm in Dixon, was selected through a qualifications-based process, which is mandated for projects that use federal dollars, Public Works Director Matt Heckman said Monday.

Construction fees total $1,060,206, with $940,758 going to Willett Hofmann & Associates. A total of $99,498 is going to Alfred Benesch & Co., which is responsible for the structural design and services; $19,950 will be paid to Testing Service Co., which will test materials like asphalt to ensure they meet design specifications.

The contract will be paid out on a time and materials basis, Heckman said.

The actual work on the project is estimated to begin in late winter or early spring. Typically, it would begin with tree removals because the state mandates that those removals are completed before March 31, Heckman said in a June interview.

The city is planning to put together a tentative construction schedule. It hopes to minimize disruptions to any community events happening in Page Park during construction, he said.

“The time frame between now and final project closeout is expected to be pretty close to two years,” Heckman said. “It’s a long, long project.”

The expected completion date is Dec. 1, 2026.

Once it’s finished it will also mark the end of the city’s riverfront development master plan, which began in 1998 with the formation of the Dixon Riverfront Commission. It includes four projects: the construction of Heritage Crossing, completed in 2009; the installation of a multi-use path that extends east along River Road from Galena Avenue to Route 2, also completed in 2009; the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program multi-use path that runs west along the Rock River, completed in July; and finally Project Rock.