Traffic barricades and construction cones will be blooming soon around the county as the Lake County Division of Transportation restarts old roadway projects or begins new ones while launching a new website to keep motorists updated.
This year, there is $111 million in roadway projects, with $73 million in work being carried over from last year and another $38 million in new projects. Last year, the total was $137 million, and the year before was even higher, said Brooke Hooker, department spokeswoman.
“We’ve been ramped up since we began receiving the quarter-cent sales tax (funding),” she said, “and now we are beginning to settle back down into a more typical year, but it’s still up.”
Some of the biggest projects will be familiar to certain commuters, like the Washington Street construction work in Grayslake, a three-phase project that saw the first phase being completed in Hainesville between Cedar Lake Road and Grandview Drive.
Next up will be a widening of Washington between Grandview and Haryan Way and then from Haryan to Lake Street, where Washington will go underneath the railroad tracks, a project similar but less involved than the Rollins Road underpass.
“Washington Street will be our first true corridor (across the county) after starting at Green Bay Road about 20 years ago,” Hooker said.
She added that while the underpass does not involve as many partners as the Rollins underpass because that also involved the intersection with Route 83, the Grayslake project will be vital to commuters along Washington Street.
“It will have just as big an impact in making a difference by getting the railroad out of the way,” she said.
In Mundelein, Hawley Street had a lot of infrastructure work started in 2015, including new sewer lines between Prairie Avenue and Route 45, which will require some road closures for hook-ups. Then in mid-April the eastbound lanes will be shut down and there will only be westbound traffic allowed on the roadway as construction of the new roadway begins.
The county transportation department is working on projects with Lake Zurich, Deerfield and Highland Park this year. In Lake Zurich, a retaining wall is being constructed along Route 12 and Ela Road that will allow for right turn lanes. Expect closures of the westbound lanes on Route 12 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. during the retaining wall construction. There will be work on traffic lights and sidewalks in the area as well, according to Hooker.
On the north shore, the county is providing the funding but Deerfield and Highland Park are taking the construction lead on work to reconstruct Deerfield Road between the municipalities. New traffic signals are also budgeted, she said, and they will be coordinated and timed.
Hooker said this year is also a big year for resurfacing projects.
“This year it’s up significantly because we have more budget dollars,” she said. “Prevention doesn’t have as much of a budget, but it is our first priority to keep the roadways in good working condition. It’s much better to extend the life of the roadway than start from scratch.”
Resurfacing work is scheduled for Grass Lake Road, Hunt Club Road, 21st Street, Miller Road, Ela Road, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Lewis Avenue, Wadsworth Road, Kenosha Avenue, Lewis Avenue, and Buffalo Grove Road. She said many of the resurfacing projects include the addition of bike-friendly shoulders.
“Whenever possible, bike paths are added during a reconstruction and widening project, and bike-friendly shoulders are added where appropriate during a resurfacing project,” she said, adding that LCDOT works with local partners to find opportunities to fill the gaps in the non-motorized network.
And starting next week, motorists should watch for alerts from the new website, which is available by accessing Lake County website and clicking on Transportation.
“We’re going to be really busy out there,” she said.
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