Active roadwork season ahead in Lake County
Just as winter finally loosens its grip, orange road construction cones are about to emerge.
Lake County motorists will face a full crop of obstacles as a variety of projects from new roads to adding lanes and roundabouts get under way in what promises to be an active season.
“There's going to be a lot going on in Lake County when you consider what we're doing and what the state's doing,” said Al Giertych, assistant county engineer.
The Lake County Division of Transportation has 30 projects on its 2011 construction calendar.
Those include the completion of several big projects: two stretches of Washington Street in Gurnee; the extensions of Midlothian Road to Route 137 in Grayslake, and Cedar Lake Road to Route 120 in Round Lake; and, roundabouts on Hunt Club Road at Millburn and Wadsworth roads in Old Mill Creek.
“This is very busy season for us,” Giertych said. “We have a lot of good projects getting under way, some interesting projects and some big projects.”
One of the most anticipated projects will involve realigning nearly two miles of Peterson Road to the south to connect at a new intersection with turn lanes at Route 60 in Round Lake Park.
“That will improve the sight lines and make it a safer intersection,” said Glenn Petko, the county's engineer of construction. “That one has been on the books awhile.”
The $5.6 million project was delayed for years as right of way was acquired. It is the western end of the Peterson Road corridor, which is expected to boom with development in coming years and is the first in a series of planned improvements.
Peterson will be widened between routes 45 and 83 next year, and from Route 83 to Alleghany Road in 2013.
On Washington Street, the final surface and landscaping work will wrap up a two-year widening project between Hunt Club Road and 1Milwaukee Avenue.
“That's the last remaining bottleneck. We've been working on that corridor about 10 years,” Giertych said.
Although not yet put out for bid, Petko expected the widening of Delany Road from Sunset Avenue to Yorkhouse Road in Waukegan to be among the most expensive. That project is expected to begin in September and last until November 2012.
On the state side, the Illinois Department of Transportation lists about three dozen projects in Lake County for its 2011 construction update, although several are nearing completion.
Those include the widening and resurfacing of more than four miles of Route 83 through Lake Villa and Antioch to the state line, and widening about 1.5 miles of Route 45 from Route 120 to Jeffrey Street.
Other state projects on the list include intersection widening at Grand Avenue and Route 83 in Lake Villa, and resurfacing nearly five miles of Route 59 from Route 12 (Rand Road) to Route 22.
One of the most disruptive projects is expected to be the widening of more than two miles of Milwaukee Avenue north from Route 137 in Libertyville, which is expected to begin in late summer. That also includes widening the intersection.
Representatives from Lake and Cook counties, IDOT and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority will discuss all the projects scheduled for the 2011 season on Tuesday at the annual construction meeting hosted by the TMA of Lake-Cook, a transportation oriented business-association based in Deerfield.
On a related note, several other large projects also are making their way through the Lake County process. On Tuesday, the Lake County Board will vote on about $10 million in contracts for what is known as Phase II engineering, a two-year process considered the final step before construction.
Those include major intersection improvements at Rollins Road and Route 83 and Route 176 and Fairfield Road; Route 134 and Fairfield Road; and, widening Washington Street west from Lake Street west to Hainesville Road.