End of the road for Lake County transportation leader
Anyone who has traveled the roundabouts in Lake County, breezed past busy Gilmer Road via the Fairfield Road overpass or used information provided by PASSAGE to avoid traffic delays has been affected by the work of Marty Buehler.
So have those whose travel times on Washington Street or Aptakisic, Buffalo Grove, Rollins or Butterfield roads, among others, quickened after improvements were made.
He also has been cursed over the years as the anonymous power that should magically make traffic problems disappear. Still, in the “what have you done for me lately” road business, Lake County’s longtime transportation chief has kept pace and then some.
But the task ends for Buehler as of May 31, with a detour into retirement. He leaves as only the sixth person in 100 years to hold the title of Lake County engineer.
In his 39 years with the division of transportation, Buehler has dealt with the sometimes sticky job of transforming a collection of rural roads into a much more heavily used modern system.
Described as the ultimate professional even by those who may have disagreed with him, Buehler, 62, still loves the job and has the passion to continue. But looking at the big picture analytically, a practice he has honed over the years, Buehler decided the best choice is to leave.
“People can stay too long,” he said from a small conference room overlooking the technologically sophisticated Transportation Management Center at the division of transportation headquarters in Libertyville. “I always told myself I never wanted to become a calcified bureaucrat.”
While still evolving, the center is a $33 million network of cameras and communications devices designed to give motorists real-time traffic information and operators the power to change signal timing to get things moving.
It also is one of Buehler’s proudest achievements, and one of his top accomplishments noted by well-wishers.
Technology is what keeps the job interesting, according to Buehler, who describes himself as a relentless innovator.
“I would describe Marty as a visionary. Open minded,” said County Board member Diana O’Kelly, who has chaired the board’s Public Works and Transportation Committee the past 12 years. She was one nearly a dozen board members who lauded Buehler at a meeting last week when a resolution recognizing his retirement was introduced.
Besides using technology to ease traffic congestion or improve the effectiveness of snow plowing, there are other examples in Lake County of how transportation has become multifaceted. Among them are the use of roundabouts, adding aesthetics — such as landscaped medians with road improvements — and including bike paths in the road planning process.
“It’s not just the county roads,” said board member Pat Carey, a former two-term Grayslake mayor who has known Buehler for nearly 30 years. “He looks at the big picture and the exemplary professionalism he brings to the job is admirable.”
A resident of Grayslake, Buehler grew up near Rollins and Fairfield roads in unincorporated Round Lake. He enjoyed learning about the history of roads and once wrote a term paper on the topic while attending Round Lake High School.
He interned at the transportation department while a student at the University of Illinois, and was hired full time in 1973. When he was named first engineer of traffic in 1975, the county owned six traffic signals on its system, compared with 150 today. He was promoted to the top spot in 1984 and since has won several awards and earned state and national recognition.
Since his youth, the population of Lake County has more than tripled to about 700,000, and the transportation landscape has changed significantly. Consider: In 1983, eight miles of county roads were used by 10,000 or more vehicles each day. Today, about 90 of the 300 miles on the county road system match that description.
To keep pace, Buehler instituted a practice of paving roads before they got too bad — contrary to conventional practice — to extend their useful life.
“When I first started in this job 28 years ago, we probably spent the first 10 years putting money into pavement,” he said. “It took us a long time to catch up. Now, we’re spending proportionately less, and we don’t have the backlog for reconstruction.”
With millions more coming in from a local sales tax increase authorized four years ago specifically for roadwork, the division of transportation’s annual spending on roadwork has doubled to about $58 million.
That means the department is targeting the biggest bottlenecks with dozens of projects in the hopper, including major efforts at Rollins Road/Route 83; a railroad underpass on Washington Street in Grayslake; and Route 176/Fairfield Road.
It also gives the county the luxury of being able to pay for the widening of Milwaukee Avenue, a state route, north of Libertyville.
Despite all the activity, Buehler has decided to move on.
“You get less efficient and you kind of retire on the job and you’re more an obstacle to getting things done than getting things done.” he said.
“I’m not close to that. I’m thinking there’s more to life than work. It’s just a good time.”