48 roadwork projects get greenlighted in Lake County

Lake County is kicking 48 roadwork projects into gear. Funding will come from the quarter-cent transportation tax approved during the mass transit “doomsday” crisis of Winter ’08. Included are several key projects County residents have been eagerly anticipating. A few thoughts on those with which I am familiar:

1) Widening of Route 21 from 137 to Route 120 in Libertyville and Gurnee 

This is a major southbound bottleneck during the morning commute. Glad to see it’s on the list.

2) Widening of Routes 60, 60/83 and 45 in the Mundelein and Vernon Hills area

Yes! What a bottleneck. Route 68/83 even made my list of the ten worst Lake County backups (as the “Route 83 Rather-Not”).

3) Extension of Cedar Lake Road from Route 120 to Route 60 in Round Lake

This appears to have been the plan for a while, so let’s go for it!

4) Widening of Delany Road from Tanahill Drive to York House Road

The Delaney morning delay is awful, and the left-turn signal onto U.S. Route 41 never seems to last long enough. Widening is great, but can something be done about this intersection?

5) Widening of Washington Street from Hunt Club Road to Cemetery Road in Gurnee

Also much needed. Washington needs all the capacity it can get.

I haven’t experienced rush hour at the “Millburn Strangler” on Route 45, but having driven in the area I can understand how cars could stack up there.

6) Widening of Washington Street from Lake Street to Hainesville Road in Grayslake

Currently, traffic narrows from two lanes to one west of Lake Street, right before reaching the Metra tracks and Washington Street Metra station. It’s an evening commute bottleneck.

Projects about which I’m not so sure:

Intersection expansion and improvement at Wadsworth Road and Route 41 in Wadsworth. This one can be congested westbound during the morning rush if a train interferes, but there are much more congested intersections than this one; how’d it make the list?

Not sure if an underpass at Fairfield, Route 134 and the Metra tracks in Round Lake is as traffic-essential as the other projects.

The News Swami has a witty take on the whole mess of affairs, along with suggestions as to what projects should be added to the list. I heard a rumor that the repaving of the dark side of the moon – I mean, Grand Avenue near Gurnee Mills – has been given a “go”, but haven’t a link to share to prove it.

Filed under: Congestion Relief, Cedar Lake Road, Delany Road, Grayslake, Gurnee, Hainesville, Libertyville, Mundelein, Route 120, Route 137, Route 21, Route 45, Route 60, vernon hills, wadsworth, Washington Street

Road Week Ahead: February 25 – February 29

Here’s what’s on tap for Lake County commuters this leap week.

Illinois Tollway construction update: Monday morning marks the start of a new traffic pattern on the northern Tri-State Tollway. As part of the ongoing Rebuild and Widen project, traffic shifts and preparations for a southbound counterflow lane began February 22. Starting in March, one lane of southbound traffic will be temporarily shifted onto the northbound side.

Two right lanes on the northbound Tri-State will be closed between Duffy Lane and Route 176 from 7 PM Monday night to 8 AM Tuesday morning. Also scheduled for Monday night are northbound single-lane closures between Route 137 and Stearns School Road. All other construction continues as planned.

The Illinois DOT construction update report doesn’t reflect this, but those Half-Day Road log cabins were finally torn down a few weeks ago. I haven’t driven that route in a while and was unaware of their disappearance. I also didn’t realize they were the source of so much chatter in Lincolnshire, but I’m new to these parts.

Here’s the Lake County DOT roadwork update report. Several projects currently on hold for winter will start up in a few weeks.

Interstate 94 weather report. Snow showers are predicted for Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday’s temps will be abnormally frigid.

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Filed under: Roads, Half-Day Road, ISTHA, Lincolnshire, Route 137, Route 176, Route 22, Tri-State Tollway