Summer construction season in Buffalo Grove and nearby Long Grove will continue as planned, despite recent warnings from the Illinois Department of Transportation that $665.5 million of active projects would be suspended if lawmakers didn’t approve a stopgap budget by June 30.
That all changed on June 30, when state lawmakers addressed the state budget impasse in a flurry of activity before the new budget year began and passed a temporary budget. Signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner, the stopgap measure keeps state government operations moving for the next six months and ensures public schools open by the fall.
According to an IDOT statement, the new budget pumps nearly $2 billion into 800 construction projects for roads and bridges around the state.
Had Rauner and the Democratic-controlled state legislature failed to compromise, IDOT expected to tell 25,000 construction workers to stay home on Friday until further notice.
In Buffalo Grove, the IDOT stoppage would have stalled scheduled improvements for the intersection of Dundee and Buffalo Grove roads. In Long Grove, a federally funded study of the current status of the covered bridge on Robert Parker Coffin Road would not have begun.
“Today is not the end,” Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn wrote in a statement. “We look forward to working together with all stakeholders in the near future on a permanent solution and passing a balanced budget with structural reforms.”
Construction managers with area municipalities were preparing for worst-case scenarios had lawmakers failed to pass a temporary budget. Many managers also said residents should keep in mind that villages don’t have control over IDOT work.
Lincolnshire does not expect to have any state work happening this summer, but assistant public works director Walter Dittrich said that before IDOT received additional funding, he had been keeping an eye on the widening of Deerfield Road in Deerfield.
“They started shutting that down last week,” he said.
But like about 800 other road projects, the widening work should restart soon.
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