Butterfield Road link in Vernon Hills viewed as key to bigger path system
Lake County is proceeding with the design of a multiuse path on Butterfield Road from the EJ&E railroad crossing to Gregg's Parkway in Vernon Hills.
The county board on Tuesday is expected to approve a $313,244 contract with TransSystems Corp. of Schaumburg for engineering services to design that connection. The contract will also be to investigate the feasibility of a future path from Gregg's Parkway north to Golf Road in Libertyville.
The Butterfield Road project is considered a priority gap in the Lake County Division of Transportation's nonmotorized facilities along county highways. At just under two-thirds of a mile, the path to be located on the east side of road is considered an important connection for subdivisions and businesses along the busy road.
“That project is definitely moving forward,” LCDOT Director Shane Schneider told the county board's public works, planning and transportation committee this week.
Construction is tentatively scheduled for 2021 and is contingent on project readiness and availability of funding, according to spokesman Alex Carr.
The project is supported by Vernon Hills, which has agreed to pay up to $150,000 toward the Butterfield Road path. The division of transportation is the lead agency.
“It will be a really nice improvement for the loop of our bike path systems,” said David Brown, village engineer/public works director.
Gregg's Landing North, for example, has an extensive multimodal path system along Gregg's Parkway and Huntington and Lakeview drives, he said. The segment planned along Butterfield Road would connect Gregg's Landing North with New Century Town to the south.
The village also has been pursuing other path extensions. Gregg's Parkway, for example, runs from Butterfield Road east to Milwaukee Avenue, where there is a concentration of businesses and houses.
Planning and construction have occurred along Milwaukee Avenue to connect Gregg's Landing North to areas south. The village secured an order from the Illinois Commerce Commission to allow for a path to cross the CN tracks by September 2021.
Also, a sidewalk system was extended south from the rail crossing to Ring Drive, which is the frontage road for Hawthorn Mall.
The village is working with the mall and Denny's to secure easements to continue south to connect with Route 60, Brown said.
“Once the crossing and mall paths are installed, one can ride their bike from Libertyville to Lincolnshire on this continuous multimodal path system,” he added.