Lake County Gazette

The Lake County Board has approved a resolution to enter into an agreement for Phase II engineering design services for the Old McHenry Crossings Project. The board passed the resolution at its meeting on September 10.

"Our continued investments in transportation allow us to make impactful improvements for our residents and visitors, providing safe walking and biking paths while decreasing congestion," said Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart in a Lake County news release. "Old McHenry Crossings is one of the largest projects that the Lake County Division of Transportation has ever undertaken."

According to a Lake County news release, the project will involve constructing a grade separation of Old McHenry Road at the Canadian National railroad tracks, improving the Fairfield Road and Midlothian Road intersections, and upgrading Quentin Road with additional travel lanes and a new traffic signal at Highland Drive. Non-motorized improvements are also planned throughout the project limits.

The project is expected to cost $150 million, including all engineering phases and construction, according to the news release. Three stages are planned for the project, with the first stage potentially starting as soon as 2027, depending on project readiness, funding availability, and land acquisition.

Nearly 30,000 vehicles pass through the Old McHenry Crossings corridor daily. Four highly traveled regional highways converge in this area. Frequent freight trains and closely spaced intersections have led to high traffic volumes and delays. Over the last five years, there have been approximately 370 crashes in this area.