What's included in Lake County's $90 million in road construction this year
The Lake County Division of Transportation's $90 million 2022 construction program is split between big projects carried over from last year and a mix of new ones scheduled this season.
Altogether, about three dozen transportation projects will be spread throughout the county. The project list includes 48 miles of road resurfacing, nearly 12 miles of new or widened pavement, and bridge and culvert replacements as well as bike path connections.
An interactive map with locations and descriptions of projects in the 2022 program will be available soon at lakecountyil.gov/transportation.
The program designates $45.5 million for projects continued from 2021 and $44.5 million in new projects.
"About half the programs will be continuing from last year," said Shane Schneider, county engineer and director of transportation. "These are large projects."
Among them is the $10.6 million intersection improvement at Gilmer and Midlothian roads in Hawthorn Woods. Utility work began last fall and construction is underway.
The project covers 2.26 miles. On Gilmer, it extends from Crescent Drive/Cardinal Drive south to the Canadian National railroad tracks. On Midlothian, the work extends from 1,000 feet south of Hawthorn Hills Drive to Sylvan Drive.
When complete, there will be two through lanes in each direction and left-turn lanes at the four corners. Bike paths and sidewalks also are part of the project.
Work planned at five other intersections this season includes the installation of traffic signals as the last part of the realignment of Fremont Center Road at Route 60, which was completed last year.
Intersection work also is planned for Miller Road at Route 12, Ela and Long Grove roads, Hunt Club Road and Washington Street, and Route 59 at Grand Avenue.
Project types vary from year to year, but maintaining and preserving roads is a priority for LCDOT.
"The large majority of our (2022) program is preservation and modernization," Schneider said.
Ten road resurfacing projects are planned. Included is nearly $3.1 million on Hawley Street from Route 176 to Midlothian Road in the Mundelein area, a stretch of just over 3 miles.
More than 9 miles of portions of Cedar Lake and Kenosha roads and Ninth Street in northern Lake County are scheduled for microsurfacing, a method to extend pavement life.
"That's almost 60 miles of preservation work," Schneider said.
Among the modernization projects, flashing yellow arrows at several intersections on Butterfield Road in the Libertyville and Mundelein area have been installed and are operational.
"We'll be turning on the adaptive portion of that in the next couple of months," Schneider said.
Signals on Butterfield always have been interconnected, but the cloud-based adaptive component will allow them to adjust to traffic conditions in real time, he said.
In the Barrington area, the 2022 construction program includes about $3 million to replace existing culverts with a single span bridge at Flint Creek, resurface Hart Road and build a multiuse path.
That project includes an incentive for the contractor to be done early and a penalty if the road closure goes beyond 155 calendar days.