Proposed roadwork could cost Buffalo Grove 250 trees

Buffalo Grove could receive as much as $5.7 million in federal money to help pay for a $7.6 million improvement project along Brandywyn Lane and Thompson Boulevard on the village's north side.

However, there's a catch: Accepting the money would mean either removing about 250 trees from the side of the roads or restricting curbside parking.

Village Engineer Darren Monico said in order to receive the federal funding, the roads would need to be widened to a minimum 36 feet - both are now 34-feet wide - or parking would have to be banned on one side. Widening the road would mean the removal of about one-third of the existing trees in the area, with the highest concentration near the intersection of Brandywyn and Thompson.

Monico said the trees could be replaced later.

The second option - restricting parking - also carries the potential for residential dissatisfaction.

"I have seen in my own neighborhood where they tried to restrict parking on one side of the street," Trustee Joanne Johnson said. "We have a park at the end of the street, and people were up in arms, literally running petitions up and down the streets to get rid of the parking restrictions."

Before choosing one of the options, the village should ask homeowners for their input, Trustee Jeffrey Berman said.

"These are homeowners who on these two roads are going to be very directly and significantly impacted," he added.

Monico said it would be four or five years before construction of the project begins and a public hearing is required as part of the federal process. That hearing is expected to be held in March or April.