Lake County road votes key for fairgrounds plan

Two key road-related components of the plan for a new Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake are set to clear the county board next week.

County committees have approved a contract for the extension of Midlothian Road north past Peterson Road, where it now ends. The extension will lead into the fairgrounds site, which is set to be built this year.

Committees also have approved a deal for the widening and resurfacing of the Peterson Road and Midlothian Road intersection, a task officials say is needed to help traffic better move through the area.

Proposals call for both jobs to be handled by Curran Contracting Co. of Crystal Lake for a cost of more than $1.6 million.

The full county board could approve the contracts at its next meeting set for 9 a.m. Tuesday in Waukegan.

Fair organizers said tghey hope the move to the new site from its longstanding home at routes 120 and 45 will be complete by July, when the next fair is scheduled. Fair officials pursued the move to build new and expanded facilities.

Once vacated, the current site -- sold last year to developers -- will be turned into a shopping center.

Plans call for the Midlothian Road extension to run north and then northeast through the fairgrounds property.

The proposed pact with Curran Contracting calls for the firm to extend Midlothian to a main entrance road that will run west from Harris Road. Eventually, Midlothian will connect with Harris farther north, said Marty Buehler, the county's transportation director.

Officials actually planned to extend Midlothian Road long before the fairgrounds move, county board member Diana O'Kelly said.

"Being able to take traffic up through that way will relieve congestion in other areas," said O'Kelly, a Mundelein Republican who leads the board's public works and transportation committee.

The intersection work at Peterson and Midlothian also was needed regardless of the fairgrounds relocation, O'Kelly said.

Both streets now have one lane of traffic in each direction. Turn lanes will be added to Midlothian and Peterson, including the new section of Midlothian that will be built, Buehler said.

More lanes will help accommodate the rise in traffic expected to accompany anticipated development in Grayslake's nearby Central Range, O'Kelly said.

Plans call for that 900-acre area, north of Peterson Road between Alleghany Road and Route 83, to become a large commercial and industrial park.