$7 million grant to help ease gridlock at major Mount Prospect intersection

At times, drivers will wait six minutes before navigating through the intersection of Kensington Road, Rand Road and Route 83 in Mount Prospect.

Mount Prospect officials hope to loosen that slowly flowing traffic stream that stacks near Randhurst Village and neighboring shopping centers with a multimillion-dollar overhaul of the intersection.

Reaching that goal was helped out last week when U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat, handed out a symbolic $7 million check at Randhurst Village representing Community Project Funding dedicated to the project.

The total project cost is about $19.6 million including engineering, right-of-way acquisition and construction, officials said. The estimated cost of construction alone is about $13.8 million.

Village officials said the work will include adding left and right turn lanes, lengthening existing turn lanes, traffic signal modifications, stormwater improvements and a shared use path for pedestrians and bicyclists.

“The idea is to reduce the delay through this series of intersections,” Public Works Director Sean Dorsey said, comparing it to similar work the village handled at another three-way intersection — Rand, Central and Mount Prospect roads. “It takes a lot of time to get through, especially during peak hours.”

Village Engineer Matt Lawrie said an additional through lane on Northwest Rand Road will cure an existing imbalance.

“If you look at an aerial, you’ll see three lanes coming southeast and only two going northwest,” he said. “There will be an added through lane, just through the intersection.”

Lawrie said safety is also a factor, noting the project aims to reduce accidents.

The project is expected to go out to bid this winter, with construction anticipated to begin in spring 2027 and run through the 2028 construction season.