Lincolnshire officials are figuring out ways to reduce an estimated $1.4 million in roadwork bills that the Illinois Department of Transportation said the village has to pay once it starts work to widen Route 45 and Milwaukee Avenue.
Village trustees first had to move past the initial sticker shock after IDOT told Lincolnshire to prepare to cover the money needed to relocate traffic signals, overhead lights and underground utilities
“Oh, my word,” trustee Mara Grujanac said of the $1.4 million in potential expenses.
Mayor Liz Brandt said she would try to negotiate with IDOT to reduce the village’s share of expenses on a project that the state transportation agency is planning. IDOT officials did not return requests for comment.
Since 2003, state transportation officials have been working on plans to add lanes along Route 45, from Milwaukee Avenue in Lincolnshire to Town Line Road in Vernon Hills, as well as widen lanes along a high-traffic segment of Milwaukee Avenue on both sides of Route 22.
Village Engineer Wally Dittrich said he also has contacted IDOT on ways to manage the $1.4 million in expenses that Lincolnshire may need to pay. He said construction on the project likely is five years away.
“I’ve been talking to them for three months, trying to figure out a different way to do this,” Dittrich said
The largest village cost related to the project could be tied to the overhead streetlights that the village own.
A memo from IDOT to the Lincolnshire Village Board stated how the state agency would move the lighting and urged Lincolnshire officials to upgrade to newer lights — all for an estimated sum of $855,000.
If negotiating with IDOT doesn’t work, village officials simply could not replace the lighting once the state agency tears them down, Brandt said.
“I’m not necessarily sold that we need lighting,” she said.
The cost to relocate traffic signals to make room for widened roads could cost $509,000, according to the memo IDOT sent to Lincolnshire.
A majority of that total — $460,000 — would be tied to the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Marriott Drive, which is heavily used as the entrance to the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort.
To manage that cost, Brandt recently told trustees they possibly could create a special taxing area within the area of the hotel that could help cover the work to the traffic signals.
Marriott General Manager Eric Bates said he had spoken briefly with Lincolnshire officials about the idea.
“We have not had any substantive conversations about that yet,” he said.
Dittrich said IDOT never indicated in its memo the cost estimates to relocate underground utilities in Lincolnshire.
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