Overview

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Professional Services Advertisement

Belt Railway Company (BRC) is issuing a Request for Proposals to provide Fiber Optic design services for the CREATE EW2 Segment A (EW2A) project. This Fiber Optic design consultant will provide the CREATE partners and the railroads with the fiber optic relocation design to be coordinated with the current design elements of EW2A. This EW2A project is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) implementing the 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project (CIP) in Chicago that extends approximately from Western Avenue at the west end to W 77th Street at the east end. The intent of the EW2A Project is to improve mobility for rail passengers, freight, and roadway users by reducing rail-rail conflicts, reducing local mobility problems, and improving rail passenger transit service.

The fiber optic design consultant scope of work includes, but is not limited to, the following activities and deliverables:

• Fiber optic relocation design, including phasing plans and final plans
• Interface with other involved railroads and their track and structural design firms
• Comply with all railroads’ design standards and specifications
• Field verify all cable runs and junction boxes. Confirm length of fiber cable in all junction boxes
• Review track, grading, and drainage plans by the Benesch (on behalf of NS) Team
• Review bridge and roadway plans by NS’s structural Engineering Service Providers
• Review signal plans by Knorr-Bremse Signaling (on behalf of BRC) Team
• Confirm construction sequencing for all stages of EW2A construction. If issues are found with current plan for fiber relocation during construction, redesign or provide temporary improvements that work with the planned construction staging.
• Coordinate with Metra, UPRR, and CSX as necessary to avoid conflicts
• Review existing utility mapping and atlas information as well as proposed utility improvements for the EW2A project to design the proposed fiber improvements to avoid conflicts.
• Coordinate with Chicago OUC for existing utility data and for proposed fiber installation, if required
• Plans, Specifications, and Estimates shall be provided at 30%, 90%, and 100% to allow for review and coordination with the NS/Benesch design team
  • A disposition of comments for each of these submittals will be required, including tracking all railroad and IDOT comments from reviews
  • Estimates of construction cost and construction schedule will be needed starting at 90% design
• Engineering support during construction of fiber line and during Segment A construction, including shop drawing review and RFP support
• CREATE program document control and ensuring process compliance

Qualification documents will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Project Experience
  • Experience with Class I Railroad and Metra Projects
  • Experience with IDOT-sponsored railroad projects
  • Experience with public private partnerships, and with the City of Chicago and IDOT
• Technical Approach
• Personnel Qualifications and Capabilities
• Local Presence & Availability and Schedule

Interested firms will be required to comply with certain State and Federal policies, such as Equal Employment Opportunity, the Davis-Bacon Act, FHWA 23 CFR Part 172, providing Debarment and Lobbying Certifications, and complying with FHWA Form 1273.

Insurance requirements (subject to change) are:

• Commercial General Liability insurance consisting of primary and umbrella and/or excess policies and such combined policy limits shall be $10 million per occurrence and $10 million in the aggregate per annual policy period
• BRC requires that the railroad be named as an additional insured
• Policy must not be changed, cancelled, terminated, or not renewed without at least thirty (30) days advance written notice from the insurance carrier to BRC
• Policy shall not contain an exclusion for injuries or damage occurring on or near railroad property
• Policy is subject to BRC approval, which shall not unreasonably be withheld
• More details can be found in BRC’s Right of Entry Access Agreement

A Health and Safety Plan is required. BRC requires that a project manager be committed for the duration of the design work. Contractor safety orientation training and employee participation in the e-RailSafe program, or other railroad safety programs as needed, is required.

Please contact Thomas F. Lyons at Email: tlyons@beltrailway.com to obtain a proposal package.

A mandatory virtual preproposal meeting is scheduled for 9:00 am (CDT) on October 15, 2026. Email Thomas F. Lyons at tlyons@beltrailway.com by 5:00 pm (CDT) on October 13, 2026 to be registered for the virtual preproposal meeting and you will receive a link for the meeting. Proposals are due at 12:00 noon CST on Friday, November 13, 2026, via e-mail to tlyons@beltrailway.com. Contractor selection is anticipated to be finalized in December 2026.

For more information about the CREATE Program, please go to

http://www.createprogram.org/

Highway Construction Careers Training Program (HCCTP)

Interested in carpentry, concrete framing, welding and other construction jobs that are in demand on CREATE Projects? Apply for training through the Highway Construction Careers Training Program (HCCTP) to learn the skills you need to get hired for construction jobs on projects such as the 75th St. CIP or other CREATE projects. The HCCTP is offered at three colleges in the Chicago area: Dawson Technical Institute of Kennedy King College, South Suburban College, and Richard J. Daley College.

For more information on the Highway Construction Careers Training Program, please see IDOT's HCCTP flyer(Opens in a new window) and our Dawson Technical Institute of Kennedy King College HCCTP flyer (Opens in a new window) or reach out to the HCCTP coordinators at each college below:

• Dawson Technical Institute of Kennedy King College: Laveta Moore, 773-487-3629, lmoore145@ccc.edu
• South Suburban College: Rebecca Garcia, 708-596-2000, ext. 3257, rgarcia@ssc.edu
• Richard J. Daley College: Nancy Cortes, 773-838-7544, ncortes18@ccc.edu

DBEs In Their Own Words

Several DBEs working on 75th St. CIP have provided insights into their experience. Explore the links below to learn about what the project means for their businesses.

• Infrastructure Engineering, Inc. (IEI) - PDF(Opens in a new window)
• Ardmore Roderick

75th St. CIP Contractors including Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs*)