The Lake County Department of Transportation presented its 2026-2031 transportation improvement program, with plans for nearly $1 billion in various projects and major transformations for roadways across the county.
Kevin Carrier, assistant county engineer for the capital program at the Lake County Division of Transportation, said the program presentation is done annually, and includes the current year along with a five-year lookahead.
The Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) funds for the next five years total $948 million — including carryover revenue from previous years. Last year, the 2025-2030 TIP funds totalled $865 million, Carrier said.
He attributed the difference, in part, to increases in the Regional Transportation Authority sales tax. Nearly $430 million, about 45% of the program’s funding, is sourced from the RTA sales tax.
Program projects are split into three primary categories: preservation, modernization and expansion.
Preservation is maintaining the existing road system, such as with resurfacing, repairing bridges and fixing up pavement. Expansion can be adding a new road or widening an existing one. Modernization, taking up nearly half of the program’s funds, includes non-motorized improvements like bike paths and sidewalks, and improvements to traffic signals and intersections.
About $880 million of projects in the program are not yet fully funded through construction, including some major ones like Old McHenry Crossing, which is estimated to cost about $151 million. About $39 million is currently unfunded.
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However, Carrier said that is fairly typical, with state and federal funding acquired as the project moves ahead from the planning and engineering phases, describing it as an “assembly line.”
About $153 million is planned for bike path and pedestrian projects, higher than past years, but in line with the direction of the Lake County Board, which has emphasized such projects.
The program presentation also included a rundown of the county’s roundabout projects. Eleven are currently open to traffic, with another three under construction. Three more are in the design engineering phase, and 17 more locations are being evaluated.
Roundabouts are “not a fit everywhere,” but their safety benefits have made them a popular modernization project for the county since the first opened in 2010. While they originally drew opposition from some drivers, such projects — now far more common — don’t see the same resistance.
A regular intersection of two four-lane roads has 52 “conflict points,” locations where multiple traffic paths intersect, and cars can crash into each other. Thirty-six of those are “crossing conflict points,” which can lead to the most severe and injury-prone crashes.
Compare that to a multi-lane roundabout, which has just 24 points, eight of which are crossing conflict points.
Another notable project mentioned in the presentation was a replacement for the current Lake County Department of Transportation facility. The current building dates back to the middle of the last century, Carrier said, and the department is looking into whether it made more sense to build a new one rather than continue investing in the current structure.
The project is still in the very early stages with a feasibility study to determine whether to move forward with additional architecture and design planning, he said.