Residents along a stretch of Touhy Avenue have signed off on allowing the village of Lincolnwood to install light poles on their property, fulfilling a state requirement for a special project.
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The village is preparing to install new streetlights along Touhy Avenue between Hamlin Avenue west to Cicero Avenue as part of a five-year, $5 million streetlight replacement plan. Some private property owners in the affected areas had to agree to allow the light poles to be installed on their properties so the village could adhere to IDOT rules.
IDOT requires street lights to be placed a certain distance away from the curb in order to reduce the likelihood of a vehicle striking a pole during an accident. The section of Touhy Avenue where the streetlights will be installed lacks sufficient space in the public right-of-way areas to accommodate the installations, village officials said .
As a result, the village has requested utility easements from six property owners along Touhy Avenue to meet the IDOT requirements.
The easement agreements, approved as part of the village board’s Dec. 6 consent agenda, give the village the right to install, operate and maintain the street lights on private property.
“IDOT has very specific requirements for how streetlights are installed on their rights-of-way,” said Tim Wiberg, the village manager. “All property owners have been notified and they signed the requisite easement documents.”
The phased streetlight replacement plan was launched in 2007 with the goal to replace and add streetlights along several arterial roadways in Lincolnwood in order to meet current safety standards. The affected roads include Touhy, Lincoln, Cicero, Pratt, Devon, Crawford and McCormick avenues, village documents indicate.
Aside from Touhy Avenue, the remaining parts of the project are scheduled for 2018 and include Devon Avenue west of Lincoln Avenue and Lincoln Avenue, north of Touhy.
Natalie Hayes is a freelancer.