CHICAGO — Union Pacific has issued a Request for Qualifications for property acquisition services for a portion of the CREATE Program’s 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project to be overseen by UP.
The property acquisition will be part of Project EW2, the Belt Junction and 80th Street Junction realignments, between Ashland Avenue and the Dan Ryan Expressway (Interstates 90 and 94). The firm selected will provide services including but not limited to land surveying, title works, appraisals, negotiations, settlements, and project management.
The full Request for Qualifications is available here. Proposals are due Dec. 1, with selection expected to be finalized in January 2024; a mandatory pre-proposal webinar/conference call for those interested will be held Oct. 20 at 10 a.m. CT. Detailed information is included in the linked document.
As a retired consulting engineer, I can tell you that this process is normal and appropriate. It’s a specialized professional service that UP is seeking. They issued a very brief RFQ (1 page!) to find a qualified, experienced consultant, and their schedule is pretty compressed.
Did the people who built the Dan Ryan have to do this?
It’s amazing the amount of time and paperwork it takes to hire a consultant.
I’m really beginning to believe I won’t live long enough to see this get done.