With temperatures getting warmer as summer approaches, Lake County’s road construction season has started to move into high gear.
The county Department of Transportation announced the elements of its $98 million 2026 construction program, including 14 miles of road resurfacing, three new roundabouts, and the completion of two notable projects carried over from 2025.
This year’s program is nearly $20 million less than last year, which was another $10 million less than 2024. This year’s resurfacing is also half the miles completed in 2025. Mike Clemens, manager of transportation planning at LCDOT, said this was in line with the “regular ebb and flow” of county roadwork projects.
For resurfacing specifically, while the mileage may vary, the budget is fairly consistent year to year, with some projects requiring removing and resurfacing more material than others.
Clemens said this year’s program is largely in line with previous years, with a similar mix of types of projects. According to a county news release, there is almost a 50-50 split between preservation and modernization projects.
Intersection improvements at Hunt Club Road and Washington Street, one of the county’s busiest, started last year and should “wrap up” in 2026, Clemens said. Also anticipated to be completed this year is a 1.5-mile stretch of Arlington Road, between Route 83 and Lake Cook Road.
Three new roundabouts are planned: one on Deep Lake Road at Depot Street, and two on Russell Road at Kenosha Road and at Lewis Avenue. They will mean “big safety improvements,” Clemens said.
The three roundabouts are part of a broader trend in the county. Clemens said Lake County’s roadway system currently has 11 open to traffic. Beyond the three planned for 2026, another three are in the design and engineering phase.
“There are big safety benefits for roundabouts,” he said. “They have been proven through empirical studies that they can lead to up to an 82% reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes compared to a signalized intersection.”
Technology-wise, Clemens said there haven’t been major changes to road materials in recent years — the big changes have come to traffic signal vehicle detection, he said, with a shift to video-based systems rather than sensors built into the road itself.
For day-to-day travelers, construction means one thing: traffic. Clemens said resurfacing work will mean daily lane closures, but shouldn’t cause any long-term, multi-day closures.
Larger projects, like Hunt Club at Washington, have seen existing lanes remain open to traffic, although staged to shift traffic around construction. The roundabouts will require the closing of sections of Russell and Deep Lake roads.
Construction will start on Russell Road first, and Clemens acknowledged the inconvenience for residents, but noted they have incentives in place to encourage the contractor to complete the project within the scheduled 90-day closure.
For Deep Lake Road, he said the closure will coincide with school being out of session to minimize the impact on residents.
Weather concerns are “always a factor with construction,” Clemens said, but LCDOT is ready to “adjust accordingly” and “have contingencies in place.”
He requested that drivers be mindful when they’re driving through construction zones, asking for patience as they work on projects with “long-term benefits to all of our residents.”
“This is a work zone for people,” he said. “Everybody wants to get home safe to their families at the end of the day. So drive safely through these projects. We know it can be frustrating.”
