Buffalo Grove area road projects delayed

Upcoming road projects on Weiland Road and Lake-Cook Road will be delayed a year, Buffalo Grove trustees heard this week.

Work on Weiland Road from Lake-Cook Road to Deerfield Parkway will be done in 2018 instead of next year, according to Village Engineer Darren Monico. The next Weiland project, from Deerfield Parkway to Aptakisic Road, will be done in 2019.

Monico said construction on Lake-Cook Road from Raupp Boulevard to Hastings Road will resume in 2018 and finish in 2019.

The roads are under the control of Lake County and Cook County transportation departments or the Illinois Department of Transportation, and not in Buffalo Grove's jurisdiction.

This year, however, Buffalo Grove expects to see the replacement of the Lake-Cook Road bridge decks over Buffalo Creek and the Wisconsin Central railroad tracks.

"They (Cook County) did not elect to wait for the Lake-Cook Road widening project," Monico said, explaining the timing of the bridge deck replacement.

Therefore, the two bridge decks will be shut down, with traffic restricted to one lane in each direction while the work is done.

Monico said a date for the work has not been finalized, but July is likely. He added it is unclear if both sides will be done simultaneously but said it will mean "permanent lane closures for about a month."

Village Manager Dan Bragg said the village will work with the other agencies as much as possible to limit traffic clogging alternate routes during the construction.

"Unfortunately with IDOT in particular, and sometimes Cook County, we don't get a lot of advance warning," he said.

Also scheduled for 2016 is the installation of turn lanes on the northeast and northwest corners at Buffalo Grove and Dundee roads.

In related news, Monico said they have persuaded the Lake County Department of Transportation to include the Milwaukee Road and Deerfield Parkway intersection in its Phase 1 design of the widening of Deerfield Road east of Milwaukee Road.

The DOT also agreed to move up the Phase 1 study by a year, Monico said, adding, however, the construction won't be finished there for five years or longer.

"We're excited to see that it's at least in the pipeline," he said, adding it's a great candidate for federal funding.