Maurer-Stutz has a long history of assisting numerous Central Illinois municipalities and Local Agencies with their yearly MFT programs.  Preliminary Engineering services typically start with early coordination with the client to determine their desired scope, schedule and budget.  That generally leads into the investigation of the condition of the roads and streets for determination of the appropriate operations to be included in the maintenance programs or construction projects.  Our experienced staff will assist you in determining the most cost-effective repairs while at the same time still navigating the rules, regulations and required IDOT approvals that accompany MFT funded projects.  We can assist will all of the paperwork including funding options, preliminary submittals, plans, specifications, estimates, quantity documentation, material certifications, and project closeout. 

Wanting to accentuate one of the most complete, original downtowns in Illinois, the City of Farmington partnered with Maurer-Stutz to develop street and sidewalk improvements on Fort Street (IL Route 116/ IL Route 78) through their aptly named Downtown Historic District.  Early in the process, it was determined the best path forward would be to help the City apply for enhancement funds through the ITEP streetscape category.  After the project was approved for funding, our staff provided Phase I Planning, Phase II Design and Phase III Construction engineering for what would now be a federally funded project.

In addition to many of the typical features of an urban street improvement in a commercial district, this project contained some unique characteristics.  There were five underground coal vaults beneath the existing sidewalks leading into the basements of various historic buildings.  The existing right-of-way was effectively at the front edge of all the commercial buildings, with recessed entry ways between many of the display windows of the former storefronts.  The existing downtown storm sewer system was backing up during storm events and an inlet in the parking area would overflow into the side door of an adjacent restaurant.

Phase I Planning included a comprehensive drainage study consisting of a topographic survey, determination of capacity for existing storm sewer, determination of flow to inlets, development of proposed inlet capacities and finally the development of an overflow structure in a parking area south of the trouble spot.

Phase II design included construction plans, specifications, and estimates for all the streetscape work including vault reconstructions, ADA/PROWAG sidewalk and curb ramps and ornamental street lighting.  Design also encompassed a mile long section of patching and HMA overlay along IL Route 116/78 east of the streetscape work.  Maurer-Stutz also provided staff to assist with the IDOT related resident engineering.  Tasks included checking of layout, field inspection of all phases of construction and before and after documentation including digital photographs and videotaping.

Maurer-Stutz was selected by the Peoria County Highway Department to provide complete Phase III construction resident engineering services for safety and drainage improvements to Kickapoo-Edwards Road (CH 18) from Shamrock Lane to Countryside Lane in Peoria County.  The safety improvements were HSIP funded along this highly traveled Rural Major Collector that carries over 4600 vehicles per day.

The 3000’ long project included the addition of 4’ HMA shoulders with safety rumble strips and 2’ aggregate shoulders beyond the HMA.  The wider shoulders along with the flatter foreslope necessitated the relocation of all the ditches and replacement of all the entrance culverts throughout the project.  Work also included removal and replacement decorative fence and the planting of new Red Maple, Pin Oak, White Oak and Norway Spruce trees along the route.

Maurer-Stutz is excited to be a part of the team that is providing construction engineering services to IDOT for the new eastbound span of the McClugage Bridge carrying US Route 150 over the Illinois River in the metropolitan Peoria area.  The engineering team is led by a joint venture between Michael Baker International and HR Green.  The new tied-arch bridge will have 3 through lanes, 2 full-width shoulder lanes and an adjacent 14’ multi-use path.  Maurer-Stutz staff are responsible for performing quality assurance checks for all of the construction layout of not only the new river bridge elements, but also all of the approach work and widening along eastbound US Route 150 both east and west of the river crossing.

Farmer City is located just off I-74 between Bloomington and Champaign in DeWitt County.  Building on our already strong partnership, the City approached Maurer-Stutz to design improvements to an outdated residential city street that serves as the only access to Blue Ridge High School and Schneider Elementary School. Our staff provided comprehensive Phase I Planning, Phase II Design and Phase III Construction Engineering for the modernization of this 3-block section of John Street.

The corridor suffered from many substandard features including failing pavement, poor drainage, discontinuous sidewalks of various material types in very poor condition, overgrown trees causing sight distance problems, undefined parking, and lack of modern street lighting. Most troubling was the lack of a dedicated pick-up and drop-off zone at the elementary school, which created dangerous parking and pedestrian access situations for students and parents. The corridor also serves as the pick-up and drop-off location for junior high students commuting to the nearby Blue Ridge Junior High School, which increases bus and pedestrian traffic through the already congested corridor.

Our engineers worked closely with the City and the Blue Ridge School District to develop and construct a new one-way circle drive allowing off-street pick-ups and drop-offs for parents. The project greatly improved the corridor’s geometrics, pedestrian safety, as well as traffic flow. In addition to new pavement with new striping, other modern features included wider sidewalks with curb ramps built following current ADA/PROWAG guidelines, new curb, gutter, and storm sewers to improve drainage, street lighting, urban tree plantings and signing. The improvements were well received by the local community and have been praised by the City Council and School Staff.

Through a quality-based selection process, Maurer-Stutz, Inc. was chosen by the City of Peoria to provide construction resident engineering services for oversight of the removal and replacement of the bridge carrying MacArthur Highway (FAU 6593) over Romeo B. Garrett Avenue. 

The new structure was a a single span urban bridge with a cast-in-place deck on top of steel I-beams.  Some of the special features included cast-in-place arched fascia beams and decorative concrete rails (often referred to as “Texas Rail”) along each side of the bridge with window openings similar to the appearance of the former bridge design which was constructed in 1942.  The new superstructure carries two-way bicycle lanes behind a parapet wall along the east side of the bridge and a pedestrian sidewalk behind a parapet wall along the west side of the bridge.

Some other special features included mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls to contain fill materials behind the abutments.  Normal granular fill was placed within the MSE walls south of the bridge, but lightweight cellular concrete fill (LCCF) was placed in lifts within the MSE walls north of the bridge due to concerns of maintaining the integrity of an antiquated 42-inch diameter brick sewer line beneath the MacArthur roadway.

Some of the sustainable features of this project included creation of two bioswales which were lined with engineered soils and native plants to collect storm water, placement of perforated dry well drainage structures to allow storm water to infiltrate back into the existing permeable subsurface sands and gravels reducing storm water runoff, and planting of native trees. 

Aesthetic features included installation of a small-prefabricated steel pedestrian bridge on poured abutments with a poured concrete deck, installation of ADA compliant sidewalks and ramps including some decorative stamped and dyed concrete sidewalk, and finally installation of ornamental street lighting.

As part of an existing Work Order contract with The Illinois Department of Transportation Maurer-Stutz provided construction engineering services for the resurfacing of US Route 24 from Maple Street in Lewistown to Little America along with IL Route 97 from US 24 to North Clark Road in Lewistown.  Engineering technicians from Maurer-Stutz performed tasks including construction observation of pavement patching, storm sewer installations, milling, HMA paving, curb and gutter work and striping.  We also assisted with quantity documentation, and material inspection of the various pay items.

Maurer-Stutz provided resident engineering services to the City of Peoria for the Phase III Construction of the reconstruction of Sheridan Road from Eleanor Place to McClure Avenue.  Existing pavement, curbs, sidewalks, steps, driveway entrances and other appurtenances were removed to allow for the reconstruction of the roadway with new full-depth HMA pavement with permeable brick paver bike lanes on either side.  Most of the storm sewer was upgraded as part of the reconstruction.  All new curb and sidewalk ramps were constructed in accordance with ADA/PROWAG Guidelines.  New decorative street lighting was placed throughout, along with new traffic signals at the McClure Avenue and Nebraska Avenue intersections. Maurer-Stutz performed all construction observation, utility coordination, quantity documentation, material inspection and assisted the City with their public awareness efforts aimed at adjacent property owners and motorists the duration of the project.