Rt. 59 widening to start -- but how soon?

State Rep. Darlene Senger says the widening of Route 59 on the Aurora/Naperville border could begin as early as November now that the money has been approved. State transportation officials, however, say the project is still years off.

Senger, a Naperville Republican. told the Daily Herald on Friday that the $125 million project was part of the $31 billion construction bill signed into law this week.

"It's there. It's definitely in there so as soon as they have the funds to do it, they're ready," Senger said. "IDOT actually sat down with Naperville a while ago already so Route 59 is in there and they already have plans to start working and doing that widening as early as November."

The long-awaited project includes widening a three-mile stretch of Route 59 from Aurora Avenue to Ferry Road. Other improvements would include additional turn lanes, retiming of traffic signals, restricted access to side streets, improvements to the I-88 interchange and better bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

"That is a project that has been long in the works," Senger said. "This project is long overdue."

IDOT officials, however, say the project is moving forward at a much slower pace.

"This project is scheduled for design approval in late fall," said spokesman Marisa Kollias. "We will be advertising for a design consultant and a consultant to prepare plats for right of way. We figure, at the earliest, (the project would take) two years to let."

More than 50,000 vehicles travel on the Route 59 stretch every day. Along it is the Route 59 Metra station, and on the southern border is the Westfield Fox Valley Shopping Center.

The stretch sees more than 400 accidents a year. Three Route 59 intersections that fall within the boundaries of the project are consistently on Naperville's list of the top 10 most crash-prone intersections, including where the state road meets I-88, North Aurora Road and Diehl Road.

Widening Route 59 has been a priority for the area for years, but it has been a decade since the legislature has approved a funding plan for statewide construction projects.