Mount Prospect planning Central Road crossing improvements

Mount Prospect village board members on Tuesday will discuss a recommended design for improvements to one of the village’s most congested intersections.

The design is a first step in plans to upgrade Central Road at the railroad crossing where it intersects with Northwest Highway and Prospect Avenue.

Board members will consider a plan that would widen the road to five lanes, with a dedicated eastbound left-turn lane.

In addition, there would be improvements for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, including a shared-use path on the south side and a continuous sidewalk on the north side, from Cathy Lane to Prospect Avenue.

There also would be IDOT-required left-turn restrictions at Wa Pella Avenue and 500 W. Central Road.

If approved, Phase I engineering would run through 2027. Design engineering and land acquisition would follow from 2027 to 2029, with construction occurring in 2030 and 2031.

It would be the culmination of a process that began in 2024 with a study, followed by an open house last year. In July, the village received a federal grant to cover some of the engineering costs.

Central Road and Northwest Highway are under IDOT’s jurisdiction, while Union Pacific controls the crossing signals. Both must grant preliminary approval to the project.

Village officials said the left turn from eastbound Central onto northwest-bound Northwest Highway poses a problem for drivers due to limited lane space for vehicles turning left. Backups can extend more than a half mile from the crossing, officials said, adding that extending the eastbound left-turn lane would reduce intersection delay by 40%.

According to figures supplied by the village, the Central Road railroad crossing and intersection was the site of 126 crashes between 2019 and 2023, with rear-end and sideswipe collisions accounting for two-thirds of them.

Board members will meet as a committee of the whole at 6 p.m. in village hall.

szalusky@dailyherald.com