Mt. Prospect OKs Rand Road transportation study
Mount Prospect will spend up to $125,000 to study the Rand Road corridor.
All but 20 percent of the funds will come through a grant from the Regional Transportation Authority.
Community Development Director William Cooney said the study will differ from corridor studies the village has conducted in the past. "This is really going to be focused on the transportation side of it."
It will focus in particular on the intersection near Randhurst and the intersection at Mount Prospect and Central roads. It will examine transportation patterns as they relate to cars, bicycles, pedestrians and public transportation.
The board will hire a consultant and a committee will include someone from the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The study could ultimately lead to grant dollars for improvements along the corridor. Cooney said there is a possibility for a traffic light by the Joe Mitchell Buick GMC site at 801 E. Rand Road, which is slated for redevelopment.
Trustees voted to approve the agreement Wednesday. However, Trustee Steven Polit said he was concerned about committing $25,000 to a plan when the village does not know what it will get in return.
"The problems have been there for a long time. How could the Illinois Department of Transportation not know about the problems at Mount Prospect, Central and Rand Road? And how could they not know about the problems with the corners of Randhurst? It's one of the most ridiculously timed intersections around."
Mayor Arlene Juracek defended the grant, saying, "It's money that's available to address needs that we have specifically identified."
Polit said that the village is not going to have the money to solve the problems along the corridor. He pointed out that it is a state route.
"The alternative is to sit here and complain about every stoplight and every intersection or join together and look at this in some comprehensive way with IDOT," Juracek said.
Polit noted out that IDOT wasn't funding the study, but sending a staff member.