1.4-mile reconstruction project to begin this spring along Arlington Hts. Road
Elk Grove Village and Cook County have inked a cost-sharing agreement for a long-awaited $7.1 million reconstruction of a large portion of Arlington Heights Road set to begin this spring.
The roadwork, which is expected to extend beyond summer construction season into the fall, is a full reconstruction of a 1.4-mile stretch of the major thoroughfare, from Turner Avenue near the southern village limits, to Brantwood Avenue near Salt Creek.
Chief among the upgrades to the four-lane, 52-foot-wide road is the addition of a center bidirectional left-turn lane. Officials hope it can alleviate congestion on the busy road, where drivers turning onto side streets can cause traffic backups and sometimes accidents.
"Just the other day I googled Arlington Heights Road, and looking from the aerial view, if you go on the map you can see how bad (it) is," said village Trustee Stephen Schmidt, who chairs the village's capital improvements committee. "You've got medians that are deteriorating. You've got curbs that are deteriorating. We've got potholes. You can see where the road has been patched throughout this entire stretch.
"We ask for your patience - and this project will hopefully be done by the end of November - and it'll be a much better traveling experience for all of our residents."
The addition of the 10-foot-wide center lane won't require a widening of Arlington Heights Road.
"We have enough space for that, without taking anymore easements or property," said Colby Basham, the village's director of public works. "Yes, it'll fit."
The project calls for patching pavement, replacing curbs and gutters, overlaying the street with asphalt, improving drainage, adding pavement markings, installing accessible ramps, and modifying pedestrian and traffic signals.
The village is picking up the cost to install decorative crosswalks at eight locations on side street approaches to Arlington Heights Road and at the busy intersection of Arlington Heights and Biesterfield roads. Similar crosswalks - a herringbone dark red brick pattern outlined by solid white edges - are in place elsewhere in Elk Grove Village.
The village is also picking up the costs for decorative and landscaped medians.
In total, the county - which has jurisdiction of the road - is covering an estimated $5 million in costs, and the village is picking up $2.1 million, under terms of the intergovernmental agreement the village board approved this week.
The village, which will take the lead on the project, is set to be reimbursed by the county in three installments.
While the county is covering most of the construction costs, the village is paying for much of the pre-work, including design and construction engineering. The board this week also approved an agreement for the latter work with Itasca-based Civiltech Engineering.