Lake County appropriates $26.4 million for Arlington Heights Road 1.9-mile section rebuild
A heavily traveled 1.9-mile section of Arlington Heights Road in southern Lake County will be rebuilt over the next two construction seasons.
The Lake County Board on Tuesday appropriated $26.4 million from various sources for the project from Lake-Cook Road to 500 feet north of Route 83.
Initial public comment was solicited in early 2021 and a virtual public meeting was held in early 2022.
As planned, the aging five-lane concrete road will be completely removed and replaced with asphalt. Built in 1980, the pavement is at the end of its life expectancy, according to the Lake County Division of Transportation.
It's also noisy as about 26,000 vehicles a day along that corridor in Long Grove and Buffalo Grove travel over separations between the concrete sections.
"This will be a really big improvement and it will be a smoother, quieter and better ride," Jennifer Clark, Lake County Board member and chair of its public works and transportation committee, said during a recent discussion of the project.
Funding will come from $15 million made available to Lake County through the Rebuild Illinois capital plan; $3.1 million from county bridge tax; and, $8.3 million in matching county funds. Bids are expected to be sought early next year with construction to follow through 2025.
This is strictly a pavement replacement project. Arlington Heights Road won't be widened as the five-lane configuration is considered sufficient to handle current and future traffic, according to LCDOT.
The bike path on the east side of the road is continuous and will remain. Sidewalk gaps on the west side will be filled to provide a continuous path from Route 83 to Checker Road, from which the forest preserve trail system can be used to get to Lake-Cook Road.
Intersection improvements at Route 83 and/or Lake-Cook Road are not part of this project because they are under the jurisdiction of other agencies.
However, planning and design on the intersection at Lake-Cook is taking place separately.
Buffalo Grove is leading a preliminary engineering study to improve Lake-Cook from Arlington Heights Road east to Raupp Boulevard with support from LCDOT and the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways, said Kyle E. Johnson, deputy public works director/village engineer.
The study will examine existing conditions and explore the best options considering impacts to the environment, regional traffic, surrounding properties and other variables, he added.
Phase II will involve detailed designs and Phase III is construction. However, each part takes years to consider and coordinate, Johnson said.
On a separate note, Cook County is nearly done resurfacing Lake-Cook from Raupp Boulevard through Arlington Heights Road.