New crosswalk to be installed in downtown Arlington Heights
Street construction will return to downtown Arlington Heights next week, when work begins to resurface a one-block portion of Evergreen Avenue and make other pedestrian-friendly upgrades.
Construction on the north-south Evergreen Avenue, between Sigwalt and Campbell streets, will begin Monday, with a full road closure expected for some two to three weeks and the overall project expected to take four to six weeks, village officials said.
Plans call for curb bump-outs at the northeast corner of Evergreen and Sigwalt and for resurfacing of Evergreen. But the biggest portion of the work will be installation of a midblock brick crosswalk that includes curb bump-outs and pedestrian push buttons with flashing signs.
The crosswalk is one of three midblock crossings that originally was proposed for construction in the summer of 2019 as part of a series of downtown construction projects. The Evergreen crossing, which will be installed in front of Keswick Jewelers and the Citibank parking lot, was delayed until now.
Construction of the crosswalk will require a full road closure in the immediate area, but local access to driveways and garages will remain, officials said. Driveway entrances north of the crosswalk - including the Citibank lot and Arlington Town Square across the street - will still be accessible from Campbell. Driveway and garage entrances south of the crosswalk - including Evergreen Center - will be accessible from Sigwalt.
The roadwork isn't expected to impact the final weeks of Arlington Alfresco, which is centered at Vail Avenue and Campbell Street, just blocks away.
Elsewhere in Arlington Heights, a new flashing beacon pedestrian crossing recently was installed on Kirchoff Road at Dwyer Avenue near Sunset Meadows Park. Pedestrians and bicyclists can activate the solar-powered beacons by pushing the buttons on the posts. When activated, the beacons will provide a higher level of notification to drivers on Kirchoff that someone is crossing the street, village officials said.
The new Kirchoff crossing upgrades replace signage and striping that was installed in 2015, after the Illinois Department of Transportation - which has jurisdiction over the road - approved the village's request for enhanced improvements.