A Look At Lake Co. Road Projects Slated For 2018

LAKE COUNTY, IL – It's just about that time of year again. As weather warms, the Lake County Division of Transportation will begin to gear up for its busy road construction season. This year, Lake County plans to spend nearly $100 million on road construction projects.

Construction costs will cover 30 new projects, including:

• Quentin Road: The road will be widened from two lanes to five lanes near Lake Zurich. More information is availble on the Quentin Road project Website.
• Millburn Bypass: LCDOT is funding this long awaited IDOT project, which will realign US 45 to remove the two t-intersections and major bottleneck.
• Old McHenry Road: Intersection improvement, pavement reconstruction and drainage improvements in Long Grove. More information is available on the project website.

Road construction projects that will continue in 2018 include:

• Work will also continue on the Cedar Lake Road Project in Round Lake. More information is available on the project website LCDOT is reconstructing and widening the road, adding a center turn lane, and adding a new multi-use path with connection to the Forest Preserve. A large culvert replacement was completed in 2017 in advance of the roadwork that will be taking place this year.
• Another project scheduled to begin later in the year, or in early 2019, is the reconstruction of Weiland Road from Lake Cook Road to Deerfield Parkway in Buffalo Grove. This is a reconstruction and widening project which includes a sidewalk and a new multi-use path.
• Also on the schedule for this year, there will be several operational improvement projects, including intersection improvements, traffic signal work, and additional bike path and pedestrian accommodations. For example, LCDOT will be interconnecting and coordinating the traffic signals in the US 12 travel corridor from Lake Zurich to Wauconda and connecting this corridor to our Lake County PASSAGE network.
• Intersection improvements will be completed at Wilson Road and Nippersink Road. More via the project website.

Much of the remaining work planned in 2018 falls under the preservation category, which includes resurfacing projects, culvert replacements and other maintenance items, according to the Lake County DOT press release.

Preservation work to be completed in 2018 includes eight new pavement resurfacing projects. Resurfacing a roadway typically takes about three months to complete and usually requires lane closures and flaggers to direct traffic, according to the news release.

• 9th Street – IL 131 to Lewis Avenue
• Almond Road – Washington Street to Fairfield Lane
• Everett Rd – St. Mary’s Road to east of I-94 bridge
• Gelden Road – Deep Lake Road to Grass Lake Road
• Kelsey Road – IL 59 to IL 22
• Kenosha Road – North of 21st Street to IL 173: This project includes a culvert replacement which will require a temporary road closure.
• Kilbourne Road – South of Russell Road to IL 173
• St. Mary’s Road – IL 60 to Everett Road

Bike-friendly shoulders will be added during all the resurfacing projects except for the Gelden Road project.

In recent years, LCDOT has more aggressively pursued repairs and replacements of old metal culverts with concrete pipe or new linings where possible. Heavy rain events have caused culverts to deteriorate faster than anticipated, making this a more urgent priority, according to the news release.

This year motorists will encounter culvert replacements on Kenosha Road in Zion, Gilmer Road in Hawthorn Woods, and on Rollins Road between Wilson Road and Fairfield Road.

Over the next six years, Lake County has committed to spending $500 million on transportation, Lake County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor said. The county allocates all of its 1/4-cent sales tax to cover transportation costs.

“The County Board recognizes that investing in transportation is directly linked to the quality of life we cherish and strength of our local economy," Lawlor said. "This results in $30 million per year to advance some of the larger, more complex projects—even State projects like the Millburn Bypass.”

You can view the 2018 interactive construction program map here and get more information on the planned road construction projects. In addition, Lake County's PASSAGE system provided real-time, local traffic info on www.lakecountypassage.com, e-mail traffic alerts, twitter alerts and PASSAGE smartphone apps.

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