Route 83 project could get early start
A $20 million plan to improve Route 83 from Lake Villa through Antioch could get an early start thanks to the federal stimulus package.
The plan, which calls for widening and other improvements for nearly 5 miles from Petite Lake Road to the Wisconsin state line, is one of 11 Lake County projects that could be included in a special state bid in early April.
"That happened to make the cut. We're probably not going to have to wait until June," said state Sen. Michael Bond, a Grayslake Democrat who announced the project last fall.
At the time, he said funding for the project was included in the Illinois Department of Transporation budget. IDOT Secretary Milton Sees credited Bond's diligence as vice chairman of the Senate transportation committee in snaring money for the long-planned project.
But Lake County Board Chairman Suzi Schmidt wondered Monday why the project made the federal cut if it already was approved for state funding.
"It wasn't on any list. All of a sudden it's on this list," she said.
Bond explained that all state road projects that are "shovel ready" made it onto the list, which was released Friday by Sees.
"They became eligible for the stimulus," Bond said.
Also on the list for stimulus money is $2.6 million for the engineering of the project.
After the Antioch project, the next largest, at $4.8 million, is the reconstruction of the intersection at Route 22 and Route 21/45 in Lincolnshire.
Illinois will be getting about $936 million for road repairs, with 70 percent going to fix state roads. IDOT engineers identified about $693 million statewide in shovel-ready projects, including about $44 million in Lake County.
In the Chicago area, about $168 million in stimulus funds are targeted for projects in Cook County, about $7.8 million in DuPage County, about $8.2 million in Kane County, about $7.3 million in McHenry County and about $45 million in Will County.
IDOT budgets in recent years have focused on maintenance of roads and bridges, with lane additions or other expansions hard to come by.
Bond said he would jockey to have the state's Route 83 money used for other projects in the area, such as widening Route 45 from Route 120 to Washington Street in Grayslake. In December, Bond also announced the widening of Route 45 from Route 137 to Route 120.
"It takes $20 million of pressure off Lake County," he said of the stimulus designation.
He noted that projects must be approved by the General Assembly but whether it will be item by item or a lump sum is to be determined.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=272828">Proposed Lake County stimulus road projects <span class="date"> [2/18/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>