IDOT to host public meeting on potential Route 120 upgrades

The Illinois Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting Nov. 10 to provide an update of a study to improve a 9-mile stretch of Route 120 in central Lake County.

The agency will introduce improvement alternatives and seek recommendations and public input during the session, scheduled for 3 to 7 p.m. at University Center of Lake County, 1200 University Center Drive in Grayslake.

The possibility of a bypass south of Route 120 between Almond Road near Grayslake and Route 60 in Volo has drawn opposition from those who say it would be harmful to the environment.

Barbara Klipp, executive director of Midwest Sustainability Group, said the organization is urging everyone to voice opposition and show support for less damaging and more affordable solutions to relief traffic congestion.

“We’re doing what we can to let people know,” she said.

In April 2024, IDOT started the formal federal process for its Planning and Environmental Linkages study to consider potential improvements from Route 60 to Almond Road. That stretch is primarily two lanes, includes busy rail crossings that tie up traffic, and shifts between two and four lanes that cause bottlenecks.

Improvement alternatives may include more lanes, a median, auxiliary lanes at intersections and accommodations for those who bike or walk, according to the meeting notice.

While no preferred solution has been identified, a bypass is said to still be in the mix. Several options, including five-lane corridors of varying lengths south of Route 120, were offered by engineers in September 2025.

IDOT offices were closed Tuesday, and the status of those possibilities was unclear. A bypass was not listed among the potential improvements in the meeting notice.

Conditions along Route 120, a major east-west corridor, for decades have been of concern for local, state and county officials.

Grayslake led a study in 2020, and the Lake County Division of Transportation did one in 2009. But those were considered more planning-level and did not initiate a federal study, according to IDOT.

Grayslake Mayor Elizabeth Davies said safety upgrades along Route 120 are long overdue and there has been a “lack of meaningful improvements” along the road.

She said the idea of a Route 120 bypass has been studied for decades with no consensus and that the environmental impact to wetlands, disruption to existing neighborhoods and the costs are too high.

Rather, the focus should be on deliverable improvements to the existing road supported by local communities, Davies said.

An underpass of a railroad crossing at Route 120 and Route 83, for example, is supported by municipal leaders and would deliver real relief, she added.

mzawislak@dailyherald.com