It's a year late, but Butterfield Road work nears end

Motorists won't be the only ones excited when construction finally ends in the next few weeks near the intersection of Naperville and Butterfield roads in Wheaton.

City officials and retailers say the road project, which originally was supposed to take a year and now is approaching two, has been severely detrimental for merchants on Wheaton's south side.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mary Carol Deveney said members in that area have used her as a sounding board for the past year.

“I think it's frustrating because they were initially given a timeline and it's gone way over,” she said. “And they get frustrated because they never see anyone working over there. It's like ‘Hey, come finish here, at this major intersection, before you move on somewhere else.'”

Mayor Michael Gresk said city officials also have tried to help the retailers.

“I wish we had more control over it so it would get done,” Gresk said, “but it's entirely an (Illinois Department of Transportation) deal.”

IDOT officials said the $53 million project to widen Butterfield Road to a four-lane divided highway east of and through the Naperville Road intersection is nearing completion.

Major intersections within the project limits, including Naperville Road, are being improved by adding turn lanes, increasing queue storage lengths, providing standard taper rates and modernizing traffic signals to address safety and capacity deficiencies.

IDOT spokeswoman Jae Miller said paving will be complete, with all lanes open on Butterfield Road, by the end of July.

Once that work is finished, she said, daily lane closures will continue for shoulder paving, side street paving, traffic signal work, sidewalk work, and landscaping.