Illinois Tollway seeks engineering firms for two contracts

Downers Grove, Ill. — The Illinois Tollway is seeking firms to provide the services of the Consulting Engineer and the Traffic Engineer — key roles required for Tollway operations and as defined in the Tollway’s Trust Indenture. Interested firms should have a nationwide and favorable reputation for skill and experience to provide applicable consulting engineering services. Both requests are for initial three-year contracts with two, one-year extension options exercisable by the Tollway.

Contracts being advertised include:

• Consulting Engineer — services include inspection and inventory of the Tollway system and documentation in an annual report, along with review and recommendation of the amount of resources they believe are necessary to keep the system in a state of good repair for the Tollway’s annual budget. The firm also is called upon, as needed, to develop and maintain Tollway technical standards, specifications, manuals and criteria to ensure that the agency is in compliance with industry standards and regulations, as well as preparation of certification letters for bond issuance, contract plan review, construction field audits, ISO certification, environmental and permit support.

• Traffic Engineer — services include development of annual traffic and revenue forecasts and preparation of an annual Traffic Engineer certificate for the Tollway’s annual budget. Additionally, toll revenue and traffic data reports created by this firm are required to support Tollway bond sales. The firm also is responsible for providing technical services to help the Tollway plan improvements for the Tollway system and traffic operations, as well as assistance in the development and implementation of toll collection and intelligent transportation systems.

Firms interested in submitting a proposal can visit the “Doing Business” section on the Tollway’s website www.illinoistollway.com for more information. Submissions are due February 29, 2016, with contracts expected to be awarded by the Illinois Tollway Board of Directors this summer/fall. These contracts will begin in January 2017.

Illinois Tollway professional engineering service contracts are awarded through the qualifications-based selection (QBS) process (Illinois Public Act 87-673 {30 ILCS 535/1-535/80}) Architectural, Engineering and Land Surveying Qualifications-Based Selection Act), which requires state agencies to select professional architects, engineers and surveyors on the basis of demonstrated competence and professional qualifications. Staff from the Department of Engineering checks statements of interest to ensure that specified pre-qualifications and documentation are met and then reviews and scores statements of interest based on the selection criteria outlined for each project. Executives from the Department of Engineering then review the scoring, as well as each firm’s capacity, and identify the top recommended firms per project. To complete the review, a committee of Tollway professionals and independent engineering officials considers the top recommended firms and finalizes the top three firms in ranked order. The Tollway then seeks to negotiate a final contract price with the top-ranked firm.