The $16 million reconstruction and widening of Buffalo Grove Road, from Deerfield Parkway to Route 22, is continuing as crews install storm sewers and excavate the median to make way for temporary pavement.
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No road closures are expected for the project, which includes widening Buffalo Grove Road from one lane in each direction to two, according to a Lake County alert. Drivers are asked to drive carefully, though, as lanes are shifted and trucks will be entering and exiting the job site.
Buffalo Grove Road was built in the 1980s with the idea it could be expanded to five lanes if needed, spokesman Alex Carr said. With the current pavement at the end of its life and usage on the rise, the decision was to repave the roadway and expand it.
Traffic along the corridor currently sits at about 17,000 vehicles daily, according to Carr. That is projected to rise to 21,000 vehicles a day by 2040.
The improvements, which include the extra lanes as well as a center median, turn lanes at all major intersections and a new traffic signal at Thompson Boulevard, will “ease traffic congestion along this corridor for years to come,” he said.
The crosswalks at each intersection will also be improved and upgraded to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, according to the project website. The existing bike path on the east side of Buffalo Grove Road, from Deerfield Parkway to Aptakisic Road, and from Brandywyn Lane to Route 22, will be improved, and the gap completed between Aptakisic Road and Brandywyn Lane will be completed.
The bike path is part of a regional trail network that runs south of Lake Cook Road up to Vernon Hills and connects to the Des Plaines River Trail, Carr said.
The project is being completed by Lake County Grading, which the Lake County Board approved hiring in March, Carr said. The contract was worth just shy of $16 million.
A majority of the cost is being covered by the quarter percent sales tax that the county dedicates to transportation projects, he said.