Improvement Project For Main, Illinois, Pruxne Moves Forward

LEMONT, IL — An improvement project planned for the intersection at Main, Illinois and Pruxne continues to move forward after the Lemont Village Board approved a phase 1 engineering proposal at its Monday meeting.

The proposal, with Veenstra & Kimm, Inc., will include the design of rail and other intersection improvements, according to Board documents.

Village Administrator George Schafer said the Village has discussed this project for the past several months and has also received input from the Illinois Commerce Commission.

"We've been working with our consultant and our engineer from Veenstra & Kimm on an overall comprehensive railroad enhancement project for safety improvements," Schafer said.

He added that the Village has five public and two private railroad crossings around the downtown area.

"All of [the crossings] need safety improvements. Many of them were designed and installed in the '80s and '90s," Schafer said.

About $4 to $5 million in funding has been secured for the corridor, Schafer said.

"We will have to fund phase 1 engineering to start the project," he said.

Schafer said the project at Main, Illinois and Pruxne will be "lengthy," and may require 18 months to 2 years just for engineering.

The total cost for the engineering proposal is $258,150, with $100,000 scheduled for fiscal year 2024.

"It's something that's definitely needed," Mayor John Egofske said. "As we get more traffic in the area, which is good, we have more people that are entering our downtown that are not familiar with it."

Future improvements at Lemont Street, Stephen Street and Holmes Street; as well as Walker, Boyer and McGwire will be discussed by the Board later this year.