Traffic Watch

— In what could be a preview of things to come, the Society of the Divine Word, which owns the land under the Willow Festival shopping center, has added trees to the center median on Willow Road west of Waukegan.  At the suggestion of architect and planner Zalman Alper, 55 black locusts and ornamental trees were planted.   Alper, who first envisioned a greenway stretching from the landfill north of Willow to the Techny Basin, sees the trees as another important feature for the area, and Northbrook has agreed to care for the them.  “They just need to be watered the first couple of years. Getting somebody out there to cut the grass is a much bigger issue,” says Northbrook’s Director of Community Planning Tom Poupard.  The greening of an otherwise grim thoroughfare became possible after the Illinois Department of Transportation changed its policy banning trees in central medians.  State Senator Jeff Schoenberg has suggested that widening of Willow Road through Northfield could also include richly landscaped medians.

— The Illinois Tollway Authority has followed the advice of Northbrook’s fire chief after two fatal accidents on the Edens Spur. The authority closed one east-bound lane.

— Glenview’s park district will begin work in October on a berm along I-294 – a green sound barrier that should further enhance the Grove experience.

Traffic Watch

— The Illinois Department of Transportation begins patching at the following locations Monday, June 16 and will continue through the end of July:

Golf Road: McCormick to Shermer

Waukegan Road: Golf to Dundee

Willow Road: Shermer to Sunset Ridge

Milwaukee Avenue: Dearlove to Sanders

Pfingsten Road: Lake to Willow

— The Illinois State Tollway Authority plans to erect beams at the I-294 bridge over Milwaukee Avenue on Tuesday, June 17. There will be several 10-15 minute periods when traffic will be stopped between Central Road and Lake Avenue.

— After a second fatal crash on the Edens spur in a month, Northbrook’s fire chief is suggesting drivers stay off the road until the Tollway Authority makes changes. In the most recent accident, one person died and ten were injured when a semi slammed into stalled mid-day traffic on the eastbound Edens. Paramedics from Northbrook and 13 other communities were called. The fire chief says on-going construction should dictate creation of one lane from the Tri-State, creating a continuous construction zone and forcing trucks to slow down even before traffic begins to back up.

Patterson Puzzled

Village Engineer Russ Jensen was briefing the village board on intersection improvements planned for Glenview and Greenwood roads in 2010. No sidewalk was planned for a section of Greenwood, he said, because residents in the area had voted against it. Trustee Jim Patterson was bewildered. Noting that 80 percent of the money for sidewalks would come from the federal government he wondered, “Why would anyone vote against a sidewalk?” he asked.

“There’s a concern that we’re turning this into an urban area,” Jensen explained.

The same argument was made for years by residents of Glen Oak Acres who liked the country feel of their lanes and wanted nothing to do with curbs and gutters. Patterson was not persuaded. “Pedestrians are supposed to walk where?” he demanded.

“Right now they walk along the edge of the road, on the gravel shoulders,” said Jensen.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” said Papa Patterson. “I would suggest that we try to get the federal funds and put them aside if that’s legal. Then we can ask the residents to vote again. I think it’s in the best interests of the community and the people who live there to have that sidewalk.”

Editor’s note: We’re all for sidewalks, but what is the point of asking residents what they want if Patterson and his pals on the board think they know better and will act accordingly.

A Green Flag to Widen Willow Road

The Illinois Department of Transportation will soon begin engineering studies for a two-lane expansion of Willow Road east of Sunset Ridge. Calls to widen the 1.2 mile stretch of state roadway to a total of four lanes had met with fierce opposition from Northfield residents who preferred the addition of a single, center turn lane.

Working with Winnetka and an outside consultant, State Senator Jeff Schoenberg promoted public hearings designed to persuade residents that a more attractive road could actually beautify Northfield and make Willow a friendlier place for pedestrians and bicycles. The state provided $90,000 for a study and drawings of what might be built.

Schoenberg, chairman of a key Senate budget committee, says the state has now set aside $4 million for engineering, and Illinois’ Secretary of Transportation, Milton Sees, said interim road resurfacing would begin in the next few weeks to “greatly improve the safety of the riding surface on Willow.”

The project could include a pedestrian underpass at Clarkson Park, making if safer for kids walking to school and ball fields.

Business leaders and local officials, including Crate and Barrel CEO Gordon Segal, Kohl Children’s Museum President Sheridan Turner, State Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook) and Village President Kerry Cummings joined Schoenberg and the head of the Illinois Department of Transportation for a news conference at the North Shore Senior Center in Northfield.

Absent from the cheery crowd were Northfield leaders.  The Chicago Tribune reports Northfield’s village president was stunned by the news.  “Frankly, I knew nothing about the engineering studies, and I find it fascinating they hold a press conference in Northfield without any Northfield government officials there,” John Birkinbine said. 

Schoenberg dismissed opposition to the project.  “There will always be some who are resistant,” he told the Trib.  “The overwhelming majority of people who live and work in [neighboring] communities will be thrilled with this outcome.” 

A Green Flag to Widen Willow Road

The Illinois Department of Transportation will soon begin engineering studies for a two-lane expansion of Willow Road east of Sunset Ridge. Calls to widen the 1.2 mile stretch of state roadway to a total of four lanes had met with fierce opposition from Northfield residents who preferred the addition of a single, center turn lane.

Working with Winnetka and an outside consultant, State Senator Jeff Schoenberg promoted public hearings designed to persuade residents that a more attractive road could actually beautify Northfield and make Willow a friendlier place for pedestrians and bicycles. The state provided $90,000 for a study and drawings of what might be built.

Schoenberg, chairman of a key Senate budget committee, says the state has now set aside $4 million for construction. The project could include a pedestrian underpass at Clarkson Park, making if safer for kids walking to school and ball fields.

Business leaders and local officials, including Crate and Barrel CEO Gordon Segal, Kohl Children’s Museum President Sheridan Turner, State Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook) and Village President Kerry Cummings joined Schoenberg and the head of the Illinois Department of Transportation for a press conference at the North Shore Senior Center in Northfield.

“I am pleased to announce that IDOT will be starting a temporary resurfacing project in the next few weeks that will greatly improve the safety of the riding surface on Willow Road,” said IDOT Secretary Milton Sees.

Village Unveils Pothole Plan of Attack

Glenview’s village board has added $300,000 to its annual budget to repair roads ravaged by extreme winter weather and released a list of residential streets that will be patched this spring. (To see if your street made the cut, go to http://www.glenview.il.us/departments/public_works/marslist.shtml)

Over a record-setting winter, Glenview Road has been patched on five different occasions. Snow plows have gone out 22 times, up from only seven last year. “We’ve had an extraordinarily difficult winter with twice the amount of snow we typically get,” Village Manager Todd Hileman told reporters.

Heading East? Smile!

The village of Northfield is set to install cameras at Willow and Waukegan and Willow and Wagner roads to snap pictures of anyone who runs a red light. For the first month, officials say they’ll be mailing out warnings. After that time violators will be fined $75.

During a 12-hour field test, Northfield reported 68 violations. About 24,700 vehicles pass through the Willow and Wagner intersection, while the Waukegan Road intersection sees more than 70,000 cars, trucks and buses each day.

Northfield officials admit drivers may begin stopping suddenly at yellow lights to avoid getting caught by the cameras. Tickets sent to the registered owners of cars that go through red lights are not considered moving violations and do not count against a driver’s record.

Traffic Watch

Work on the Tri-State Tollway is about to begin again, and commuters are bracing for what could be two years of delays. Beginning in March, southbound lanes will be rebuilt from Half Day Road to Grand Avenue, and south of Lake Cook Road to Des Plaines River Road. Crews are already working overnight to shift northbound traffic to the right. The speed limit through the work zones will be 45 miles per hour. When the project is complete in 2010, there will be four lanes in each director from Indiana to just south of the Wisconsin state line. Bridges will be widened at nine locations, including Lake Cook Road, Half Day Road and Milwaukee Avenue.