Palatine Road expansion project to get underway
As if construction-related traffic wasn't already nightmare enough this summer, a major expansion project is about to get underway in downtown Palatine.
The $9.5 million venture, which aims to alleviate one of the village's most congested areas, will expand a three-quarter mile strip of Palatine Road between Smith Street and Northwest Highway.
It also will widen Plum Grove Road near the Palatine Road intersection and improve two railroad crossings.
"This is probably one of the hardest projects a village can undertake," said Craig Lukowitz, CEO of the engineering firm Bollinger, Lach & Associates. "You've got railroads, a lot of traffic, two crossings and a confined area with not a lot of room to work."
As early as Friday, June 18, both directions of Palatine Road will close from Plum Grove Road to Northwest Highway while crews improve the railroad crossing.
That work is expected to wrap up by July 3, at which time Palatine Road will become one-way east until construction is completed sometime in November. Sidewalk and landscaping work will continue through spring 2011.
Village officials are assuring residents, business owners and commuters that an aggressive construction schedule and focus on open communication will help ease their pain.
Bollinger, Lach & Associates set up the website palatineroad.com, which already has more than 3,100 hits, to provide information from construction schedules to detour maps. People can sign up to receive e-mail updates and provide feedback.
Company representatives have met with more than 90 percent of downtown businesses and spoken to or left more than 700 brochures with area residents.
Typical concerns have centered on trees and motorists using local roads as a detour. Project leaders said they'll try to preserve as many trees as they can, though many will be lost. And police will increase their presence on local streets to make sure those choosing to bypass the westbound detour, which takes drivers along Northwest Highway to Quentin Road, follow traffic laws.
The increased communication is one reason the village insisted on serving as lead agency despite Palatine Road falling under Illinois Department of Transportation's jurisdiction. Village Manager Reid Ottesen said he's confident the project will run smoother and be more cost-effective than the IDOT-led Northwest Highway construction project several years ago.
The budget already is $2.1 million less than anticipated. Assistant Village Engineer Matt Barry said a favorable bidding market lowered the total project cost down from $11.6 million to $9.5 million.
About $7.7 million is being federally funded. That includes $5.2 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $1.5 million from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and $1 million in Surface Transportation Projects-Urban, Barry said.
The public is invited to learn more about the project at an open house from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, at Palatine Village Hall, 200 E. Wood. St.