Over $66 Million In Summer Construction For Northern Cook County

SKOKIE, IL — State transportation officials announced seven infrastructure projects in north Cook County that are either underway or set to begin soon have been funded through the $45 billion infrastructure bill passed just over two years ago.

The projects include a project to improve the intersection of Dempster Street at Niles Center Road and Skokie Boulevard, which is due to begin in the summer and be complete in late 2022.

During the project, one lane will be closed in each direction on Dempster Street between Bronx and Kilpatrick avenues and on Skokie Boulevard between Crain and Greenwood streets, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation, or IDOT.

IDOT Secretary Omer Osman asked motorists driving through work zones to pay extra attention and stay patient.

“These projects represent a significant investment in northern Cook County and are a big step forward in our work to improve safety, mobility and create economic opportunity for years to come,” Osman said in a statement.

The six ongoing projects in the area include:

• A $1.72 million resurfacing project on Church Street from Gross Point Road to Dodge Avenue expected to be complete this summer.
• An ongoing $1.4 million resurfacing project on Busse Road from Golf Road to Higgi2ns Road is also expected to be finished this summer.
• A $1.7 million project to resurface Palatine Road between Algonquin Road to east of Roselle Road is expected to be complete this fall.
• A $4.78 million resurfacing project on Arlington Heights Road from Palatine Road to Higgins Road, which is expected to be completed in late fall.
• As part of a $12.76 million reconstruction project on Wolf Road in Wheeling, southbound traffic is currently closed between Illinois 21 to north of Hintz Road. Once that stage is complete, Wolf Road will be open in one lane in both directions. The project, which began in Spring 2020, is expected to be complete in late 2022.
• A construction project on the Kennedy Expressway from Harlem Avenue to Interstate 190 that began in the fall 2018 is expected to be complete this fall. The $39.5 million project includes reconstruction, resurfacing, widening and more.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker praised the more than $66 million worth of IDOT improvements in the area provided by the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, which includes $33.2 billion in transportation funding.

“With the Rebuild Illinois capital plan, we are restoring and transforming Illinois’s aging infrastructure,” Pritzker said in a statement.

The largest capital bill in state history, Rebuild Illinois also included $400 million for the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency, or CREATE, program, $500 million for passenger rail service to Rockford and the Quad Cities and $4 billion for the Regional Transportation Authority.

“Rebuild Illinois is not only about investing in infrastructure but about investing in people and communities as well," Pritzker added. "In the coming months, IDOT will undertake projects that will ultimately create safer roads and bridges and provide jobs in northern Cook County and across the entire state.”