Palatine again says yes, please widen Quentin Road on village's north end
Palatine is calling for a widening of a two-lane section of Quentin Road on the village's north end as part of a reconstruction plan.
For the third time since 1996, the village council Monday night approved a resolution asking the Cook County Board to pursue the widening of Quentin between Lake-Cook and Dundee roads "as expeditiously as possible." There also is a coalition requesting the county to go with a two-lane proposal.
Noting the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways widened Quentin to four lanes north of Algonquin Road to Dundee, village officials say the final leg in Palatine from Dundee to Lake-Cook has been in an engineering study for 13 years. The 1-mile stretch is known for cracked pavement and holes that combine for a bumpy ride.
In addition to the village, some residents from nearby subdivisions are calling for the county to rebuild Quentin with two lanes in each direction. There also would be a center turn lane for much of the roadway that slices through Cook County's Deer Grove Forest Preserve.
Homeowners association presidents for the Dunhaven Woods East and South subdivisions appeared before the village council Monday night in support of remaking Quentin into a four-lane road. Ami Rajpurkar, president of the Dunhaven Woods South association board, said all 104 homes in the two subdivisions support four traffic lanes.
"I think everybody loves the forest preserve," Dunhaven East association President Eric Wasowicz said. "We all love the trees. But we also love life itself. And we've seen so many accidents there over the years."
However, on the other side is an 11-year-old group called Build Quentin Right, which also includes Palatine residents in subdivisions near the road and has support from organizations such as the Chicago Audubon Society, Active Transportation Alliance and the Deer Grove Natural Areas Volunteers.
Build Quentin Right contends safety would not be compromised with two renovated lanes for north- and southbound drivers, plus a full-width lane in the middle for left turns, emergency vehicles and other purposes. Concerns have been expressed by about tree removal and other potentially negative environmental effects on Deer Grove from widening the road to two lanes in each direction.
Quentin receives about 20,000 vehicle trips daily between Dundee and Lake-Cook, according to the latest Illinois Department of Transportation statistics.
About $505,100 has been set aside in Cook County's 2020 capital budget for the Quentin Road project's design, planning and preliminary engineering. If the work begins as expected in 2021, federal funding, motor fuel tax revenue and other sources tentatively are projected to provide $40 million.