Road Widening Project May Extend Sidewalk

The project to widen Milwaukee Avenue plans to include sidewalks all the way from Route 137 south to downtown Libertyville, according to Public Works Director John Heinz.

The $32 million project will widen 2.2 miles of Milwaukee Avenue from Route 137 to south of Route 120.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) faces a challenge because they don’t own a piece of property where they would like to place the sidewalk, and their policy does not allow them to acquire right of way for sidewalks. However, Heinz says the village is working with IDOT “to see if we can’t find some way to compromise and find some mitigation there so we can continue that side walk.”

Heinz told Streets Committee members that he had reiterated the village’s desire not to reduce the five lanes down to three during the winter.

“If they start the project in September and they decide that they are going to reduce the lanes, they are not going to be doing construction during winter and it sits like that. If they have to reduce the lanes, [we’ve asked IDOT to] open them back up during the winter,” Heinz said during the meeting. “I was told by [IDOT’s] Bureau Chief of Design that they are going to work very hard to try and do that.”

Fire Chief Richard Carani had previously voice concerns that construction during the widening project would make it difficult to clear roads for emergency vehicles to pass through.

“With a reduction of five lanes down to three, it’s going to be hard to clear the intersection as quickly as the [Fire Department] would like, but that’s the nature of construction,” Heinz said. “[IDOT representative] felt that when Richard’s emergency vehicles pull out and hit the Opticom, the line of sight is perfect for the road right of way. It would clear everyone going northbound, and east and west bound at that intersection stop, and he feels very confident that the construction wouldn’t cause any problems at all.”

IDOT is hoping to have pre-final plans ready for the project in spring, and plans to start construction in September,

Even though the widening project may affect some businesses near the intersection, Heinz says, “I don’t believe any business will be in a situation where they will not have access to their property."