Wheeling looks to widen Dundee Road

Wheeling will start seeking rights of way along Dundee Road for future road widening in the hopes that will alleviate traffic problems.

The village board agreed on Tuesday that proposals for an underpass or overpass at the Canadian Northern railroad tracks on Dundee would be too expensive for Wheeling to take on, even if it would help the traffic issues.

But the board took other suggestions made by consultant group KLOA into consideration and will start implementing some of them.

Interim Village President Pat Horcher directed staff members to start contacting businesses along Dundee to see if any would be willing to sell property.

Dundee Road runs from six to four lanes at different points in the village.

The board will also have a joint workshop with the park district within the next 30 days to hear any of that organization's concerns. A separate workshop will be held for business owners to let them know what the village would like to do.

Luay Aboona, with KLOA, said that by the group's traffic count, the road handles about 32,000 cars a day. With pending development at the Wickes furniture site and other spots in the area, that traffic count could go up by 20,000 cars.

While there are multiple reasons for the congestion, Aboona said he's found that the biggest problem is the railroad crossing.

The board has looked into building an overpass or underpass at the train tracks, an initiative that could cost anywhere from $40 million to $60 million.

Village Manager Mark Rooney said when Wheeling pursued grants for the project, it didn't make a list of the worst intersections in the state, meaning the village would have to foot the bill.

"Realistically that's not going to happen," Trustee Dean Argiris said.

Aboona said the crossing gates at the tracks aren't coordinated with the traffic lights on Dundee Road.

"That's obviously a problem," he said.

The Illinois Department of Transportation hasn't looked at the signals on Dundee Road in 10 years, he said, and coordinating them from Schoenbeck Road through Milwaukee Avenue would solve some of the problem.

"You can have 100 lanes out there, but if you don't have signalization, it won't work," Trustee Judy Abruscato said. "IDOT has to come out here and do it. How we can get them out there, I don't know."

Aboona said his group will start talking to IDOT to ensure that at least that much can get done in the short term.

He said adding lanes to Dundee would help because right now, the inside lanes have turned into left-turn lanes because of all the driveways for businesses along the roadway.

Aboona said adding right-turn lanes at certain intersections would help during rush hour as well. He suggested straightening out Northgate Parkway and extending it to Wheeling Road.

But park district board members at the meeting said the extension is shown cutting through a facility parking lot.

Village trustees said that would never happen, but they did want the park district to return with feedback on the proposal.