For signs of how big a problem traffic can be in his community, lifelong Libertyville resident Jack Martin need look no farther than out the front door of his business on Illinois Highway 137.
Every weekday morning “like clockwork,” traffic backs up in front of the Libertyville Saddle Shop, a horseback riding supply outlet. That congestion presents a number of problems for Libertyville as well as neighboring Mundelein and Vernon Hills, he said.
“We’re not able to get our customers to our places of business,” said Martin, 60, who also is chairman of the Green Oaks Libertyville Mundelein Vernon Hills Chamber of Commerce, the largest chamber in Lake County.
“The majority of chamber members realize that to be successful, their customers need to get to their places of business,” he said. “We’ve learned that shoppers are not coming to Vernon Hills or Gurnee Mills because of transportation problems.
“In addition, we can’t guarantee our employees will get out here to work. They do not want to fight traffic. As a result, there’s a [shortage] of employees in Lake County. It’s not pleasant being in gridlock all the time.”
The heavy traffic also adversely affects the quality of life found in Lake County. “From our input from the public, congestion is one of the top five issues with residents of our county,” said Dusty Powell, director of planning and programming for the Lake County Division of Transportation, which is based in Libertyville.
To combat the problem of traffic congestion, Martin and other Lake County residents and business people last year formed Citizens to Protect Quality of Life Through Better Transportation.
“From what I can see, the vast majority of businesses want something done to take care of gridlock,” said Martin, who is the group’s president.
It’s not difficult to pinpoint the cause of Lake County’s traffic congestion: According to Powell, “there’s been massive growth in the area.”
“Traffic congestion in Lake County has been profoundly impacted by the development of the county,” said Ed Wilson, area programmer for the Illinois Department of Transportation. “And there has been tremendous development in Lake County.”
According to data from the Citizens to Protect Quality of Life Through Better Transportation, Lake County’s population has grown by 37 percent since 1980 to more than 605,000 residents. Road capacity, meanwhile, has increased just 5 percent, according to the group.
As a result, approximately 190 miles, or one-third, of Lake County roads are congested at top travel times, the group said.
Though there are road improvement projects taking place throughout the county, Martin and others are hoping one major project will drastically improve the congestion in Lake County: an extension of Illinois Highway 53 from Lake-Cook Road to Illinois Highway 120. The extension would run through the west end of Mundelein.
Martin said traffic in Lake County travels mostly south and north, with much of the east-west traffic trying to reach the Illinois 53 toll road. “As a result, we would lose a lot of gridlock with the [Illinois] 53 extension,” he said.
Compared to alternative plans to expand roadways, Martin said, the Illinois 53 extension is the most environmentally sensitive, the least expensive and “the construction would also be the least disruptive to the lives of the people of Lake County.”
If approved by the Lake County Board, the project would cost between $800 million and $1.3 billion and probably would be constructed in the year 2003.
There are opponents to the Illinois 53 extension who say the roadway would bring more problems to Lake County than it would solve.
“One of the main reasons we’re involved in this debate is an environmental one,” said David Kolata, a policy associate with the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago. “Growth in the county will be accelerated if the 53 extension is built.
“The extension would bring 30,000 to 80,000 new residents to Lake County. Also, the extension will channel growth to the central and northwest part of Lake County, which are unpopulated areas now.”
In addition, the extension would affect 69 wetlands in the county, Kolata said.
Kolata also said the extension is fiscally impossible now. “The toll authorities can’t afford it,” he said.
Instead of extending Illinois 53, Kolata’s group would rather see an emphasis placed on improving local roads and transit services in Lake County.
Martin and others, however, argue that the alternative methods would cost at least $1 billion. “None of the land for the alternatives has been acquired,” he says. “All of the land has been acquired for the 53 extension.”
Debate on the extension and the alternatives will take place over the next few weeks before the Lake County Board makes its decision on which route to choose.
In the meantime, other road projects have been slated and proposed that could help relieve congestion in the area, Wilson said.
ROAD PROJECTS
Libertyville
The entire lengths of Industrial Drive, Tempel Drive and Enterprise Drive will be resurfaced in a $500,000 project through late August.
The following streets will be resurfaced and partially reconstructed from October to early November in a $1.9 million project:
The entire length of Kenlock Avenue.
Victory Drive from Butterfield Road to the west end.
Lothair Drive from Stevenson Drive to Victory Drive.
West Rockland Lane from Burdick Street/Crane Boulevard to Garfield Avenue.
Sunset Drive from Linden Lane to Laurel Avenue.
East Lincoln Avenue from Milwaukee Avenue to 4th Avenue.
East Austin Avenue from Milwaukee Avenue to 4th Avenue.
Second Avenue from Sunnyside Avenue to the southern end.
Windsor Terrace from East Rockland Road to East Lincoln Avenue.
Briar Place from 2nd Avenue to Ardmore Terrace.
Ardmore Terrace from East Austin Avenue to Valley Park Drive.
West Golf Road from Butterfield Road to Garfield Avenue.
Old Hickory Lane from Oak Spring Road to the southern end.
Thornbury Lane from Old Hickory Lane to St. Mary’s Road.
Lakeside Cemetery westerly entrance drive near West Street.
Mundelein
U.S. Highway 45/Lake Street from Hawley Street to Park Avenue will undergo a $1.3 million streetscaping project that will include the reconstruction of streets, new sidewalks and decorative lighting. The project will continue through September.
Seymour Avenue from Hawley Street to Park Avenue will undergo the same streetscaping updates.
The $500,000 project will continue through September.
Vernon Hills
Hawthorn Parkway from Butterfield Road to Lakeview Parkway will be reconstructed and a new dam will be built at the Seavey Ditch.
The $1.5 million project will continue through early September.
