Lake County Board approve funds for Wadsworth Road widening

A stretch of Wadsworth Road east of the Des Plaines River will be widened to three lanes, the Lake County Board decided Tuesday, despite protests by some residents that it would destroy the character of the area by taking out age-old trees.

A vocal minority of county board members called for the matter to be tabled for further discussion as the village revises its comprehensive plan. But that motion by Steve Carlson of Gurnee, failed 17 to 5.

“Who do we think we are? How many people have to show up to get us to reconsider and change our minds?” Carlson said.

But the majority agreed the project was necessary and everything that could be done to lessen the blow had been considered.

“We’ve studied and we’ve studied and we’ve studied. The project could have been much larger than it was,” Board Chairman David Stolman said. “There has been continual review by our (transportation) staff and we hold them in the highest esteem. My decision is to listen to them.”

The 18-4 vote to fund the project came after more than two hours of discussion among board members and comments from 14 members of the public. Carlson and board members Melinda Bush of Grayslake, Susan Loving Gravenhorst of Lake Bluff and Terry Wilke of Round Lake Beach voted against the funding.

“I do not understand what additional time will accomplish considering the time the village has put into this,” said board member Diane Hewitt, whose district includes the area.

The project includes improving the Canadian Pacific Railway crossing and widening the road to east of the entrance of St. Patrick Catholic Church. St. Patrick school, which has 600 students, is nearby.

The vote authorized payments of $420,000 for the crossing work and about $3.4 million to rebuild and widen the road and install curbs, gutters, sidewalks, bike lanes and a green strip.

Wadsworth Road also will be resurfaced from the church to just west of Delany Road as part of the project, which is a total of 1.1 miles in length.

The county board last summer approved a contract with Wadsworth for the project, which has been considered in some version for about 12 years. Opponents subsequently started a website and had flooded county board members with emails.

Most opposition focused on the removal of the canopy of 150-year-old trees, but there also were questions about public input and impact on a local feed store.

Wadsworth Village President Glenn Ryback contended many of the trees were hollow and could present a hazard.

“Would you want to be parked in a holding pattern on a two-lane road next to those trees?” he asked the board.

Opponents said they supported road and drainage improvements and replacement of the sidewalk on the south side of the road but argued the third lane was not needed.

The two-lane rural route carries about 17,500 vehicles a day.

Transportation Chief Marty Buehler said it is not possible to build a two-lane road with curbs and gutters because of regulations regarding safety and pedestrian accessibility.

“That means you get them out of the traffic in a separate dedicated left-turn lane,” he said. “Three lanes can do the job so you don’t have left-turning traffic blocking everybody.”