Glenview is continuing to seek input from residents on a proposal to build new access ramps connecting the I-294 Tollway to Milwaukee Avenue although some in the village complain there isn’t enough transparency in the process.
The $22 million to $25 million proposal calls for a northbound ramp off I-294 to Milwaukee Avenue in Glenview, and a southbound on ramp from Milwaukee Avenue to I-294, said David Just, community engagement manager with the village.
He said the proposal is being reviewed to determine its feasibility and potential impacts, and the village held an “open house” in November to give residents more information and to get their feedback on a survey.
“We published the survey and all the information was on our website as soon as the open house was over,” he said. “It’s still there. We shared it in our Enews that went out and we want as many people to participate and provide feedback as possible.”
But some in the village complain that they didn’t hear about the open house until after it was held, that they cannot find out what government agency is proposing the new ramps and that they don’t know how the survey will be used. They also said that if the ramps are built, construction will cause traffic headaches on Milwaukee Avenue and the project could potentially spill over into “The Grove” park space. They also said there has been a lack of transparency in the process, something Just said is untrue.
“The survey is still open on our website,” he said. “People can submit feedback via the survey now or they can just submit emails for public comment or in-person in public.”
The village, he said, is still in the very early stages of collecting information on the feasibility of proposal.
“Right now all of this is sort of ‘preplanning,'” he explained. “Everything is ‘pre phase one.'”
“Is this something we should move forward and continue reviewing and looking into and putting extensive studies together for?” he said.
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In addition he said there will likely be several years of environmental review and engineering studies to come if the proposal moves past the feasibility study stage.
“It could be upward of four or five years before any kind of ground is broken,” he said.
The potential benefits of building the ramps include regional access, mobility, improving traffic movement to and from the highway, the ability to get to hospitals, hotels, recreation facilities and O’Hare Airport more easily, Just said.
“It’s really about is there a way to make traffic move more efficiently in and out of Glenview?” he added. “There’s a lot of other agencies and organizations that will need to be coordinated with on this project moving forward.”
He said the survey is still open on the village website at: https://www.glenview.il.us/Pages/I294atMilwaukee.aspx, that the village has devoted a webpage to the I-294 project and that more open house and meetings on the proposal are coming.
“If you weren’t able to attend the open house, all that information is published on our website,” he said. “The survey is still live. We want and encourage as much participation in the process as possible.”
Brian L. Cox is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.