The Illinois Tollway is now hosting live webcasts of all construction contract bid openings, offering the public and contractors the opportunity to watch and listen as the agency opens bid packages for the upcoming construction season.
The Illinois Tollway is investing nearly $609 million in 2012 for projects to repair and rebuild roadways, bridges and interchanges and other capital investments across the 286-mile system and begin the first year of the agency’s new $12 billion capital program, Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future. Beginning in March, all new construction contract bid openings will be webcast live on the Tollway’s website www.illinoistollway.com.
“Webcasting construction bid openings allows the public and construction companies competing for work on the Tollway to follow along with our public selection process,” said Illinois Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur in a press release. “We already post all construction contract bid opportunities on our website on the front end of the process and we offer live webcasts when contracts are approved, so it only makes sense to make this part of the process be equally accessible as well.”
Construction contracts for Illinois Tollway projects are competitively bid under the rules of the Illinois Procurement Code. Opportunities for new construction work on the Illinois Tollway are all posted online and interested contractors may register with Central Management Services via the Illinois Procurement Bulletin or the Tollway’s Online Plan Room to receive email notifications as well. The Illinois Tollway’s construction contract bid letting schedule is posted online and updated weekly to include the most current scheduled bid opening dates.
As part of the process, contractors’ bid submissions for general construction work advertised by the Tollway are opened and read aloud during public bid opening meetings and following an agency review process, the lowest, responsible bid is presented to the Illinois Tollway Board of Directors for review and approval.
The Tollway also posts all contract awards on its website and provides a Construction Contract Tracker in the “Projects by Roadway” section on the Tollway’s website to allow the public access to current contract records and information about project status throughout the construction season. In addition, contractor and consultant resources, including letting and bidding schedules, professional service bulletins, manuals and construction bid calendars also can be found in the “Doing Business” section of the Tollway’s website.
