Green Oaks project to benefit commuters

An old farm road that has become a commuter favorite will be rebuilt, and a persistent flooding problem resolved, in a major project scheduled this summer in Green Oaks.

Hikers and bikers also will benefit as a result of an agreement between the village and Libertyville Township that will open soggy land for recreational use and keep Atkinson Road from being inundated with water.

"Atkinson Road has been a problem since it does not have any drainage or base to it," said Green Oaks Mayor Bernard Wysocki. "In order to reconstruct the road and take care of flooding in the area, we had to find some way to take care of the stormwater."

The township is allowing the village to build two ponds that will drain a 300-acre area. Walking paths and native landscaping also will be installed as part of the $3.6 million project.

"This is over 40 acres you'll be able to use recreationally," Wysocki said.

The property originally was set aside for the expansion of Libertyville High School. It was purchased by the township for open space after Vernon Hills was selected as the location for the new high school.

"It (the project) will take place on township property that is otherwise flooded and of relatively little use to the public," said Libertyville Township Supervisor Betty-Ann Moore. "It is quite a big deal."

Atkinson starts at St. Mary's Road and heads east. It includes an access point to Abbott Laboratories, a major Lake County employer.

Soil from the project will be used to construct a sound berm on Atkinson at the Tri-State Tollway.

The village borrowed $2.5 million for the Atkinson Road and flood control project, and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority is contributing $50,000.

"It's a village road that we're bringing up to county standards," Wysocki said. "We put in for economic stimulus, but if you're a community under 5,000 (population) you can't get any stimulus."

A public information meeting on the project is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. April 8 at the Oak Grove junior high learning center, 1700 O'Plaine Road.

That is not the only work planned in the village this summer. Wysocki said Green Oaks has entered into a third intergovernmental agreement with the toll highway authority to build sound buffers. Those projects amount to more than $2.3 million, Wysocki said.

In a separate project, the tollway authority will build a detention basin on 40 acres east of the tollway and south of Atkinson Road as part of its ongoing rebuilding and widening project.