Mundelein may rehab Hawley Street

A nearly milelong stretch of Hawley Street could get a new look under plans being developed in Mundelein.

However, because the village would need to acquire some land from residents along the roadway for the project, officials know the effort could generate some controversy.

"It's going to be tough," Village Engineer Bill Emmerich said Friday. "And we're not sure where it's going to end up at this point."

Village leaders are eyeing the leg of Hawley between Route 45 and Midlothian Road for improvements. It's an older section of town, and the street there is one lane each way and fairly bumpy.

"It needs work," Emmerich said. "It's a fixer-upper."

Mundelein High School, Sandburg Middle School and a Dunkin' Donuts are among the local landmarks.

The goal of the proposed project is to "modernize" Hawley and add some character to the neighborhood, Emmerich said.

One possibility, he said, would be to turn it into an attractive boulevard like Gregg's Parkway in Vernon Hills, the road that winds through the Gregg's Landing subdivision.

The road still would have two lanes, but a landscaped median would split the street in half, Emmerich said. Breaks in the median at selected intersections would allow cars to turn.

A second option calls for a center turn lane to be added to Hawley instead of the landscaped median, Emmerich said.

Either way, the village would need to get land from area homeowners, he said.

"In order to build for the future, that's something that's on the table," Emmerich said.

An initial idea that included a traffic roundabout has been rejected because of the amount of private land needed, he said.

The changes wouldn't be only cosmetic. Officials also would like to add traffic signals at California Avenue that would be synchronized with the lights at nearby Midlothian Road. The new signals would improve traffic flow and increase safety for students going to and from Sandburg Middle, which is at California.

"It's a complete facelift and modernization," Emmerich said.

Planners will hold a public forum within the next month to gather input from residents. The meeting hasn't been scheduled yet.

Emmerich would like to make a recommendation to the village board by the end of this year. If the project progresses, design work could take four to six months, and construction could start in early 2011, he said.

Information about the potential costs of the project was not available Friday.