Legal
$31.5M Settlement Reached in Contract Dispute between Judlau and the Illinois Tollway
Judlau Contracting had already started work when its $324-million contract was canceled in April.
Photo courtesy of Judlau Contracting
The Illinois Tollway will pay nearly $31.5 million to New York-based Judlau Contracting and its trade contractors to resolve a lawsuit filed after the tollway, in April, terminated a $324-million contract with Judlau to rebuild the southbound lanes of the Interstate 290 and Interstate 88 interchange near Oak Brook, Ill.
The settlement allows the tollway to move forward on the project with Illinois-based Walsh Construction, which had been the next lowest bidder, as ENR reported previously.
“Both parties agreed to settle the case for $24,985,437, which covers substantial construction costs of approximately $15 million already incurred by Judlau. In addition, the Illinois Tollway will pay Judlau’s subcontractors approximately $6.5 million for work they performed,” a statement from the tollway reads.
“Judlau is satisfied with the settlement and notes that the tollway did not terminate the contract as a result of any performance issues on the part of Judlau,” said Randall Samborn, a spokesperson for Judlau.
The tollway states that the contract “was canceled because a relatively new provision in state law that provides a bid preference for companies based in Illinois was inadvertently excluded from the original contract bid evaluation.”
“If the bid preference had been applied, the contract would have been awarded to Walsh Construction Company. The agreement will eliminate legal barriers and enable the tollway to proceed with the project. In addition, it resolves time-consuming and costly litigation,” the tollway further states.
Walsh Construction did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
