Western Springs Disappointed In I-294 Sound Wall

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – A top Western Springs official said last month the village was disappointed with the sound wall that the Illinois Tollway erected as part of the Interstate 294 expansion.

Through a public records request, Patch has obtained the village's correspondence on residents' concerns about the wall.

Both the village and the Illinois Tollway told Patch last week they are working on a solution.

In a Feb. 9 email, Village Manager Ellen Baer responded to a resident in the Commonwealth subdivision along the expressway.

Baer said she and other village officials met on site with Illinois Tollway representatives to express "our disappointment" in the facade and other issues in the Commonwealth area.

She was answering a Commonwealth resident's email about the sound wall. The person's name was blacked out in village documents.

The resident said the neighborhood's homeowners association has spent a lot of money over the last couple of decades to plant landscaping in front of the wall. That was to make it more attractive in "this much desired Condominium neighborhood," the resident said.

"We now have a mismatch(ed) wall, part blocks, part unfinished concrete and ugly support beams," the resident said. "All the landscaping except a few struggling trees have been removed. What can Western Springs do to help the 105 resident households of Commonwealth in the Village?"

Another Commonwealth resident, whose name was blacked out in city records, said in an email a couple of weeks ago that the south end of the wall appears finished. But the rest of it seems incomplete, with "cold, bare cement on the bottom of the wall."

"The tollway took out all the beautiful budding trees, shrubs and flowers, so the landscape is bare and very unattractive!" the resident said. "Is there the possibility of either covering the cement to match the top of the wall or landscaping that cement area so that it helps hide the bare cement wall?"

In an email to Patch last week, Illinois Tollway spokesman Dan Rozek said his agency has coordinated with towns and residents along the expressway through the planning and construction.

He said the residents' concerns are about an area that is still an active construction zone.

"While progress has been made, work is still ongoing and final improvements and restoration have yet to be completed," Rozek said. "The substantial completion date for work in this area is by the end of 2025."

He said as the Illinois Tollway completes the project in the area, preliminary designs for landscaping and aesthetics are still in development and will address concerns. The agency, he said, is in talks with Western Springs officials.

"The Tollway is committed to finalizing a design that meets both functional and aesthetic expectations where possible," Rozek said.

In an email, Western Springs spokesman Selmin Cicek said the state agency is expected to bring forward options in the next month "that we hope will meet the needs of all parties."