Milwaukee Avenue project moving along
Groundwork to widen Milwaukee Avenue north of Route 137 in Libertyville is progressing toward the summer start of what is expected to be a disruptive two-year project.
Off the drawing board after more than 15 years, an initial communication gap between several affected parties and the Illinois Department of Transporation appears to have been bridged.
Last week, Libertyville Township approved the sale of four parcels to IDOT for $217,000. The properties form a narrow strip along the ditch line on either side of Casey Road.
The road at that point will be widened and a traffic signal added.
Plans also call for the Liberty Prairie Trail on the west side of Milwaukee Avenue to connect via a tunnel near Casey Road with the Lake County Forest Preserve District’s Des Plaines River trail.
How the $31 million project unfolds is of particular interest to the forest district and the village. Besides widening more than two miles of Milwaukee Avenue, the work includes expansion of the intersection used by about 28,000 vehicles a day. Lake County is paying for the project and IDOT is managing it.
The village recently sold two slivers of land near Adler School for right of way and a construction easement. Other details, including access to businesses near the intersection are being adjusted.
John Heinz, Libertyville’s public works director, said top IDOT officials attended a meeting last month to address concerns including the timing of the intersection work and access for emergency vehicles.
The intersection will be reduced from five to three lanes during construction but the village doesn’t want it left that way over the winter, Heinz said.
“They’ve indicated they will do everything they can to minimize the time it’s down from five lanes to three,” he said.
Turnarounds will be included in barrier medians, to extend from all four corners, to allow fire access.
“I think we got a lot of our issues resolved,” Fire Chief Rich Carani said.
Most of the unsettled business is with the forest preserves. In January, the district sent a letter to Diane O’Keefe, IDOT’s engineer for the Chicago area, requesting details on a variety of items, including a tree impact analysis, the Casey Road underpass design, detention areas and the configuration of the property IDOT will need.
The district wants the detention areas to appear natural, and not the traditional “hole in the ground” design.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations and met with IDOT,” said Mike Fenelon, head of planning, conservation and development for the forest preserve.
Fenelon said money from the land sale to IDOT will be used to extend and connect the trails, estimated at about $500,000.
IDOT hopes to have final plans ready in time for a bid letting in June, with work to start in late summer. Typically, the first part of a project of this nature involves relocation of utilities.
Heinz said about 100 Com Ed poles will have to be moved as will other utilities, including village water and sewer lines.