Consultants will help Itasca map out development

For the next three years, state planners will be attempting to identify the primary transportation needs west of O'Hare International Airport.

Itasca officials say they hope it doesn't take three years for their needs to be recognized.

Village trustees Tuesday night approved a $160,000 contract, to be divided between the village and Hamilton Partners, with consultants McDonough Associates to devise a plan outlining the village's wishes for the eastern extension of the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway.

"They'll be helping us plan for what we'd like to see in that corridor, which we should do soon if they're about to start reaching out to communities to get their input on what they want in that corridor," Trustee Jeff Pruyn said.

Rather than use decades-old plans, transportation officials will spend the next three years talking to local leaders and coming up with a variety of projects to address traffic issues. The final list could range from new transit to small expressways or large privately owned toll roads.

In 2011, state planners will then start working on how to pay for the projects and precisely where they would be placed. That means actual construction might not start until 2016 or later, nearly 30 years after the original battles over the Elgin-O'Hare extension.

The village's overall philosophy, they say is to develop where Itasca would like the access roads to be placed before the planners start working on their own plans. Key to Itasca's survival, they say, is at-grade crossings that would allow access to Hamilton Lakes Business Park from Thorndale and intersections at Prospect Avenue and Arlington Heights Road.

"We all realize this is a long-term project however the phase one planning is beginning even though it wont be done until whenever," Village Manager David Williams said. "They're moving ahead and they want input from the communities impacted."

Several village officials plan to attend tonight's "outreach meeting" with officials from the state department of transportation. They hope to learn what IDOT will be doing for 3 years and how village will participate.