Lake County’s $117 million road construction season set to begin. Here’s what’s in the plan
Drivers in Lake County can expect a busy construction season ahead as a $117 million road improvement program gets underway.
The 2025 program announced Wednesday includes nearly 30 projects. Among them: the Arlington Heights Road reconstruction in the Buffalo Grove/Long Grove area; the Hunt Club Road/Washington Street intersection in Gurnee; and the Route 59/Grand Avenue project in Fox Lake.
Program highlights include eight lane miles of new or rebuilt pavement, 31 lane miles of pavement resurfacing, intersection improvements, bike and pedestrian trails, and bridge and culvert maintenance.
Carryover work in the Lakemoor/Wauconda area will include building a second and third roundabout in the Darrell Road corridor.
Dowell Road will be realigned to join Darrell Road with a roundabout, eliminating the existing skewed intersection, and a roundabout will replace a one-way stop intersection at Fisher Road and Darrell. When complete, Lake County will have 11 roundabouts.
Significant resurfacing projects include Butterfield Road from Route 137 to Route 176 in Libertyville; Deep Lake Road from Route 132 to Route 173 in Antioch, Lake Villa and Lindenhurst; Old McHenry Road from Cuba Road to south of Quentin Road in the Hawthorn Woods and Long Grove areas; and Prairie Road from Aptakisic Road to Route 22 in Buffalo Grove.
Several nonmotorized transportation improvements also are scheduled this year, with many built into larger projects, according to LCDOT.
New paths, sidewalks and pedestrian improvements are strategically planned with roadway projects, noted Jennifer Clark, a Lake County Board member from Libertyville and chair of the board's public works and transportation committee.
“Lake County's transportation system goes beyond just roads,” she said. The goal is to expand travel options for work, visiting area attractions or accessing mass transit, she added.
Hunt Club at Washington Street is the most expensive project at $15.8 million. Dual left-turn lanes and a right turn lane will be added on all legs of the intersection. Path gaps will be filled and a new path built along Hunt Club north to Dada Drive.
Replacing the concrete surface with asphalt on Arlington Heights Road from Route 83 to Lake-Cook Road is the second costliest project, at $15.7 million. The project includes improving the storm sewer system to handle heavier rainfall and filling path and sidewalk gaps.
Another project of note is rebuilding the intersection of Grand Avenue at Route 59 in Fox Lake to include modernized traffic signals, realigning Washington Street and left-turn lanes, and sidewalks and multiuse paths connecting to Grant Community High School.
The county is dedicating more than $850 million over the next six years to modernize and maintain roads, bridges and paths, according to county board Chair Sandy Hart.