Schools
York High Project May Be Delayed By 4 Weeks
The city's work is expected to continue longer than expected.
ELMHURST, IL — The big drainage project in front of York High School is expected to take longer than expected, according to the latest information.
The city is handling the project to reduce flooding in the neighborhoods near the school. Originally, the planned underground storage tanks were set to be completed before school began Aug. 18.
At last week's City Council meeting, Mayor Scott Levin said the project, which has been plagued by supplier issues, was expected to go two weeks into the school year.
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But at Tuesday night's school board meeting, members were told the tentative date for the city to finish its work was Sept. 15, four weeks into the school year.
In a statement to Patch, the city's spokeswoman, Kassondra Schref, said the substantial completion of the project — the excavation and installation of the underground vaults —is expected to be completed next week.
Find out what's happening in Elmhurstfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
She said work is expected to continue around the new stormwater pumping station into September and October, but this work will not involve a large amount of trucking and is much smaller in scope.
After the city is done, the school district plans to install a turf field above the tanks. That project is set to start Sept. 27 and continue through Oct. 15.
Earlier in the summer, a city official said York would face traffic problems if the project continued into the school year. But officials have since said they are lessening the project's effects during peak traffic times before and after school.
Patch dropped by the project Monday afternoon and witnessed no obstructions to traffic.
In an email in June to the previous contractor, Kent Johnson, the city's staff engineer, spoke about the "traffic nightmare" because of the company's delays and cautioned that the company's reputation in Illinois was at stake with the closely watched project.
Explaining the delays, the contractor, Oldcastle Infrastructure, cited labor and materials shortages.
Because of the issues, the city canceled its contract with Oldcastle and went with StormTrap.
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