Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced today that in the first year of the Building a New Chicago infrastructure investment program city crews, contractors and utilities resurfaced approximately 269 miles of streets and alleys across Chicago, installed more than 134 miles of new or upgraded water and sewer mains and rebuilt six bridges in Chicago. 

 This roadway and water infrastructure work represents more than $606 million in Chicago infrastructure investments and more than 2,500 jobs.

 “By investing in our infrastructure, we are investing in our future,” said Mayor Emanuel. “These improvements make our city more appealing for businesses and improve the quality of life for our residents, both for the thousands who have directly benefited from the jobs created by these construction projects and the millions who use these resources every day.” 

To date this year, Department of Water Management (DWM) installed 70 miles of new water mains; 17 miles of sewer mains; and relined 47 miles of sewer mains.  Over that construction work, DWM restored and resurfaced more than 45 miles worth of arterial and residential streets.

 Prior to Building a New Chicago the Department of Water Management averaged 8.7 miles of sewer replacement, 30 miles of water main replacement, and 32 miles of sewer lining during the past five years.  As a result of this program, the department has increased its replacement of water mains by 134 percent, sewer replacement by 95 percent and sewer lining by 47 percent.  

 By setting new standards for restoring the public way after construction, the various gas, electric and telecommunications utilities resurfaced more than 25 miles of Chicago streets. As a result, the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and its partner utilities nearly doubled arterial street resurfacing work from 43 miles in 2011 to about 85 miles of arterial streets in 2012.  Residential street resurfacing also increased from 72 miles to 114 miles.  CDOT also repaved 25 miles of alleys this year.

 With better coordination on infrastructure improvement projects through the new Project Coordination Office, both departments and the utilities worked together to reduce the amount of project conflicts that would open up a street more than once. These efficiencies and project coordination worked to save funds and reduce the amount of time individual streets were under construction.

 In 2012, CDOT completed the rehabilitation of two bridges on Halsted on the near north side, two bridges on Kedzie spanning the lagoons in Marquette Park, the bridge on Fullerton over the Lincoln Park lagoon, and the Torrence Avenue vertical lift bridge on the south side.  CDOT will have also completed the construction of Wacker Drive and opened two new Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) stations.

 DWM plans to replace 75 miles of water mains and 17 miles of sewer mains, as well as line 49 miles of sewers in 2013.  CDOT, contractors and the utilities plan to resurface 64 miles of arterial streets, 130 miles of residential streets and 20 miles of alleys in 2013.  DWM will also resurface up to 60 miles of streets next year.

Building a New Chicago is a $7 billion, three-year infrastructure program, and one of the largest investments in infrastructure in the City’s history.  The program will touch nearly every aspect of the city’s infrastructure network and create more than 30,000 jobs over the next three years.

Building a New Chicago involves an unprecedented level of coordination between City Hall, multiple city departments and sister agencies, private sector utilities, and the public. 

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