A strike that has shuttered quarries across northern Illinois is now impacting Glencoe with neighboring communities fearing similar issues could be headed their way.
On June 24, in its weekly community email to the community, Glencoe officials noted some planned street resurfacing improvements are now being delayed. The interruption is tied into an ongoing strike by members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 against some Chicago-area material producing companies.
The labor impasse that began June 7 has snarled operations at the quarries, leading to the lack of availability for required materials for the resurfacing projects, according to the village.
Therefore, some work has stopped planned 2022 street resurfacing project where the village awarded a nearly $2 million contract to a private firm earlier this year.
“The quarries produce sand and gravel that is essential to the production of asphalt and concrete,” the village explained in the email. “The village and its contractor are monitoring the situation and will be providing updates as they become available. In the meantime, restoration work along the curb and sidewalk ramp areas continues, and the first lift of asphalt has been placed on all streets that have been milled.”
Glencoe’s Public Works Director David Mau expanded on the situation facing the village in an email.
“Only 50% of the streets included in the 2022 resurfacing project have been grinded, and each of those has the first lift of asphalt placed. No other grinding will take place until the strike is settled and asphalt batch plants are reopened,” Mau wrote.
How long the strike will last is unknown, but some tentative agreements appear to have been reached between the union and the companies, according to the union’s website.
Regardless of the strike status, Mau sensed a residential sidewalk replacement and a separate storm sewer improvement project would still start in July.
Officials from Glencoe’s surrounding communities are monitoring developments on the situation.
“We anticipate the strike may impact our road, alley and brick infrastructure programs as well as road repairs associated with the Neighborhood Storage Project (a flooding protection effort),” Wilmette Village Manager Michael Braiman wrote in an email. “At this time we do not know the extent of the impacts or when we may start seeing them.”
Kenilworth Village Manager Patrick Brennan noted there have not been any delays as of yet to village projects, but if the strike continues his community could experience problems.
Officials from Winnetka and Northfield said their communities have not experienced any issues so far.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.