Lake County examines fix to Rollins Road Gateway
You don't have to be an engineer to assess travel through the intersection of Route 83 and Rollins Road in Round Lake Beach, a particularly gnarly choke point even by Lake County standards.
With shopping areas on three corners and 50 commuter and freight trains stopping traffic each day on tracks immediately west of the intersection, the "level of service" gets a failing grade.
A process to potentially fix that is advancing, however. Four alternatives are being considered, with selection of a preferred option set for next spring.
About 25 people attended a public meeting last April when the Rollins Road Gateway plan was introduced. Thursday, about 100 attended an open house featuring a slide show and exhibits regarding four possible solutions.
Each alternate involves widening and moving Hainesville Road a few hundred feet to the west. Early estimates show each costing about $50 million.
"It seemed like the majority of the people I talked to favored Alternate 2 - the whole intersection goes down and it does not have the ramps," said Chuck Gleason, project engineer for the Lake County Division of Transportation.
Unlike options three and four, which involve a bridge and ramps to separate the roads from the Canadian National tracks, Alternate 2 would raise the tracks about 3 feet and drop the roads about 18 feet.
Adding to the area's heavy retail use are two schools, a Metra station, two residential areas and several village buildings. The crossing is so congested thousands of drivers use side roads to avoid it.
Hook Drive, for example, carries an estimated 9,000 vehicles a day when it should carry 6,000. Despite cut-throughs, Rollins still carries about 34,000 vehicles a day.
Because of the density of uses and potential concerns and impacts, an Area Business Task Force also is part of the study. Those stakeholders also provide input on various alternatives.
Access to local businesses during construction and the visibility of businesses when the work is complete are among the issues to be addressed.
Untangling Rollins/83 has been an expensive proposition that hasn't made the funding cut. That changed last year with an increase in sales tax associated with Regional Transportation Authority reforms.
The county in 2011 will make $50 million available for five long-sought, "challenge projects" including Rollins/83. Projects closest to construction stage will be eligible for county money, even if it involves a state route.