$4.5 million revamp of Algonquin, New Wilke intersection enters next phase
The next phase of planning has started for a $4.5 million intersection upgrade on the Arlington Heights-Rolling Meadows border that's more than a decade in the making.
The phase two design engineering work for the Algonquin and New Wilke roads improvement project will include completing appraisals, making offers and negotiating sales with owners of five properties, in hopes of acquiring rights of way needed for two right-turn lanes planners believe will help ease congestion.
For a cost of $374,000, Rolling Meadows aldermen recently authorized the work to be performed by Christopher B. Burke Engineering, the city's engineering consultant, and Burke's subconsultant, Santacruz Land Acquisitions. Rolling Meadows, the lead agency on the project, is fronting the funds but will be partially reimbursed by federal, state and county agencies, as well as by Arlington Heights, which is sharing in the local portion of project costs.
Because federal Surface Transportation Program funds are set to pay for half of the phase two design costs, and the Invest in Cook grant program awarded $87,000, Rolling Meadows and Arlington Heights are each expected to be on the hook for $50,000.
All in, the feds have earmarked $3.5 million for the intersection improvement, which had gotten deferred amid the recession more than a decade ago and subsequent difficulties obtaining grants.
Arlington Heights and Rolling Meadows are expected to share in the remaining $1 million in total costs, which would cover construction, land acquisition and engineering. Phase one design kicked off at the onset of the pandemic in the spring of 2020.
Chief among the proposed upgrades are added westbound and eastbound right-turn lanes on Algonquin, which could help reduce the long lines of cars during the morning and afternoon rush hours.
Officials said they need land from five property owners - two on the northeast corner and three south of the intersection - to have enough room for the turn lanes and extension of an existing 8-foot-wide path, which is intended to connect to existing bike paths leading to Busse Woods.
Other work will include removing the concrete barrier median, replacing traffic signals, adding pedestrian countdown timers, reconstructing sidewalks, and making drainage, lighting and signing improvements.
Officials anticipate finishing the design and acquiring the necessary land over the next two years, before putting the project out to bid in 2024. Construction could be done by summer 2025.