Quentin Road to be Four Lanes Wide by 2016

The $14 million project to widen Quentin Road to four lanes between Route 12 and Route 22 isn’t expected to begin until 2016, but meetings with concerned residents who live along the route and are part of a Community Action Group have already begun.

A second meeting took place Wednesday night at Ela Area Public Library included CAG members and Lake County Division of Transportation leaders. The first such meeting took place a year ago at Middle School South.  

The meeting aimed to gain a better understanding of resident concerns and ideas about the proposed expansion plan. Residents of Lake Zurich, Kildeer and Hawthorn Woods live along the affected part of Quentin Road.

The project, still in the conceptual stage, proposes to expand Quentin Road between Route 12 and Route 22 to four lanes, said Chuck Gleason, senior civil engineer for the Lake County DOT.

“Since there are a number of subdivisions along the corridor, turning lanes would also be created in addition to 12-foot wide medians at stretches where no turn lane is needed,” Gleason said.

A 10-foot high noise wall on the west side of Quentin also is a possibility; though CAG members residing on both sides of Quentin Road appear to be undecided as to whether the wall would be a benefit in reducing noise and blocking runaway traffic or an aesthetic detriment to their property.  

In residential areas, the permitted threshold of noise is 67 decibels. The noise walls would be constructed to contain noise at that level or below. Noise levels are judged from exterior areas such as patios of homes adjacent to the expansion area.  

To abate noise stemming from the projected increase in traffic, walls, berms, barriers and raising or lowering the grade of the roadway are all possibilities. 

The proposed noise wall could potentially be located in separate areas from West Cuba Road to Pheasant Ridge Drive, from the north edge of Warwick Park to just north of Bristol Trail and then continuing northward to Route 22.

Federal guidelines dictate that residents who would be impacted as well as benefit from the wall have the right to vote on whether it's installed. 

“Residents make the final decision, and the votes of residents who do not attend the meeting where a vote is taken are counted as a ‘no’ vote,” Gleason said.

The majority vote dictates if walls are ultimately put in place, and that could mean that all, none or a combination of the different proposed noise wall areas would be approved.   

The potential for, and concerns regarding a bike path were also discussed.

“The path would start on the east side of Quentin Road at Route 12 up to West Cuba Road, where it would cross to the west side and head north to Route 22,” Gleason said.

Residents from the east side of Quentin expressed concerns about inequity as well as the danger to bikers attempting to cross four lanes of traffic to continue on the path.

Safety issues also were raised by CAG members about the noise wall being located on the periphery of the bike path.  One resident warned a walker or biker could be pinned in the area with no escape route if a crash occurred or a car went off the road.

After hearing residents' concerns, DOT officials heading the project stated they would investigate the feasibility of installing bike paths and sidewalks on both sides of Quentin Road.

“This is all a concept right now, we are working toward the best solution for everybody,” Gleason said.

Moving forward, DOT officials will again meet with CAG members in the next couple of months. In the time between now and then, DOT will be looking at all the issues raised at the meeting to come back with a plan that best addresses concerns and questions, Gleason said.

The project is expected to begin in 2016 depending on funding, plan readiness, and right of way, Gleason said.