Montgomery to Pay Its Share of Route 30 Widening

The Orchard Road widening project is , and now talks have turned to another long-gestating road improvement: Route 30, from Briarcliff Road to Goodwin Drive, just west of Route 34.

It’s a project that has been in the works for about 20 years—studies began in 1992, and design approval was granted in 1996. But now, the Illinois Department of Transportation is set to begin work, perhaps as early as spring of next year. The first step, however, is to determine the scope of the project, and who will pay for what.

Plans are to widen that section of Route 30 to five lanes—two lanes of traffic in either direction, with a fifth lane in the center containing a concrete median and left-turn bays. The project will also include replacing the bridge over Waubansee Creek and adding sidewalks between Fifth Street and Goodwin Drive.

While cost estimates for most of the project have not been released, the state will pay for most of the work. However, IDOT has asked the to partner with them on a few items. Trustees took a look at those items earlier this month, and gave the go-ahead to some of them, while asking for more information on others.

Lighting. Montgomery will pay $70,000 (or about half the cost) for lighting the Route 30/Douglas Road intersection. IDOT has requested the Village of Oswego pay the other half. Montgomery Village Engineer Pete Wallers said all other lighting along the roadway is optional, and IDOT consultants have deemed most of it unnecessary.

Water main relocation. The village owns a 16-inch water main that currently sits in an easement along Route 30 at Waubansie Creek and Goodwin Drive. It was initially built as part of the Ogden Hill improvements, Wallers said. The main will need to be moved, Wallers said, but because it is in an easement, IDOT will pay for the relocation.

Landscaping in the median. IDOT will build an 18-foot concrete median in the fifth lane of the new roadway, and will add landscaping to the center if the village wants it. However, Montgomery would be responsible for maintaining that landscaping.

Trustees last week seemed hesitant, with several saying that concrete is fine for the median. Trustee Bill Keck suggested vines could be placed along the noise walls to the north and south (see below), instead of landscaping the median. Wallers said he would look into potentially sharing the cost of maintaining landscaping with the village of Oswego.

Sidewalks. IDOT will install seven-foot sidewalks from Fifth Street to Goodwin Drive, but they require a 20-percent match from the village to do so. The total cost of the sidewalks is estimated at $26,000, so Montgomery’s share would be $5,200, Wallers said. The sidewalks will also connect to the new branch of the Oswego Public Library, on Reading Drive.

Wallers said village staff had asked IDOT about a bike path in lieu of a sidewalk. But since the village would have to buy additional property along Route 30 to make that happen, he said it may not be possible, particularly within IDOT’s time frame. Trustees urged him to pursue the bike path, and he said he would report back with more information.

Noise abatement wall. Trustees said yes to a 16-foot noise wall, which would run from Briarcliff Road to just west of Douglas Road. Wallers cautioned that the state will not build pieces of the wall—it would be an all-or-nothing proposition. Village leaders have a choice to accept upgrades to the wall at additional expense.

Traffic signals. Wallers said it is standard in agreements with the state that the village pay five percent of all new traffic signals, including those at Fifth Street and Douglas Avenue. “We don’t have much choice in the matter,” Wallers said. A cost estimate for that part of the project has not been determined.