‘Transformative’ Hainesville Road project set to begin this year
More than five years after the first community input session, a project expected to have a big impact on vehicle and nonmotorized travel in central Lake County is expected to get underway this year.
Lake County Board committees have recommended approval of a $17.8 million contract with Berger Contractors Inc., of Wauconda for improvements along a 1.5-mile segment of Hainesville Road between Washington Street and Rollins Road in the Round Lake Beach area.
“The detention basins and some of the stormwater improvements have already been made,” said Shane Schneider, county engineer and director of the Lake County Division of Transportation. “Now, we’re ready to widen the road out from a two-lane section to a three-lane section with curb and gutter and storm sewer.”
The planned center left turn lane will make it safer and easier for people to access their driveways, he said.
A sidewalk on the west side and a bike path on the east side of Hainesville Road will provide “complete connectivity” between Washington Street and Rollins Road, Schneider added. Future improvements in separate projects will extend nonmotorized connections even further.
Also, a new sidewalk on both sides of Rollins Road west to Fairfield Road is planned, and the upcoming Cedar Lake Road realignment will provide a connection to the Millennium Trail system. About 33 miles of the planned 41-mile corridor connecting central, western and northern Lake County are built and open.
The Washington Street bike path project, expected to be substantially complete in November, will provide nearly nine miles of bike connections from Round Lake to Gurnee, including a connection to the Des Plaines River Trail, which runs north to south across the length of Lake County.
“This is truly transformative,” said county board member Jennifer Clark, who chairs the board’s public works and transportation committee.
Advance work included a separate $2.4 million drainage project that improved detention ponds on the Renwood Golf Course in Round Lake Beach, in conjunction with work addressing stormwater requirements for the Hainesville Road improvement, said LCDOT spokesperson Alex Carr.
The full county board is expected to approve the construction contract Nov. 5.
Schneider said he expects the work to require two construction seasons. Utility work will start this year, with most construction to be done in 2027.
mzawislak@dailyherald.com