Major Wauconda-area road project benefits Lakewood Forest Preserve
Visitors to Lakewood Forest Preserve will benefit from a major Lake County Division of Transportation road improvement project planned to begin this spring near Wauconda.
During construction, access to Lakewood, the Lake County Discovery Museum, the Dog Exercise Area and all adjacent trails will remain open, however, construction activities will be very noticeable and minor interruptions may occur. Visitors should be alert to signage that may direct to alternative entrances.
The project includes widening and improving the intersection of Fairfield Road and Route 176, adding naturalized detention ponds for stormwater management, and doing extensive plantings and reforestation work.
As part of the project, Lakewood's existing main entrance on Route 176 will be replaced with a common entry and exit point. New turn lanes will be added to make access into Lakewood, and to the museum located within Lakewood, as safe as possible.
Plans also call for two new trail underpasses along Route 176 for the Millennium Trail and the Fort Hill Trail, so trail users will not have to cross highway traffic. A new paved section of the Millennium Trail and a mowed equestrian trail will be added through the preserve.
At the Dog Exercise Area, a new entry road approach will be built to match the grades at Fairfield Road, and new boundary fences along Fairfield Road and Route 176 will add nearly half an acre of usable space to the area.
Work on Lakewood's main entrance, underpasses and trails is scheduled for completion by early 2013, with road construction to be complete in 2014.
Check the LCDOT website for updates.
The new underpasses are designed to provide safer road crossings for trail users. The new Millennium Trail underpass will be located near Lakewood's main entrance on Route 176 just west of Fairfield Road. The new Fort Hill Trail underpass will be located on Route 176 east of Fairfield Road and will allow easy access to the trail from Lakewood's Winter Sports Area. Both trails will remain open throughout the construction project.
Realignment of a small section of the Millennium Trail is designed to move it farther from the intersection. From the new underpass on Route 176 west of Fairfield Road, the Millennium Trail will be redirected through Lakewood's central picnic areas, under the existing Fairfield Road underpass and then continue on the east side of Fairfield Road where it will connect to the Fort Hill Trail from Lakewood's Winter Sports Area.