OPINION: Moran: First chunk of Rebuild Illinois funding makes promises large and small toward Lake County roads

Oct. 22--When dollar amounts are discussed in billions with a "B" rather than in millions with one foot stuck in 1928, there should be a lot of bread to go around the table, even one as large as the entire state of Illinois.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation have been taking a victory lap around the state this week to tout the dollars they will rain down on local governments in the opening phase of Rebuild Illinois, the "historic, bipartisan $45 billion investment in creating good jobs, fixing Illinois' crumbling roads and bridges and building major projects."

That's how IDOT described the program in a report this week that details the first chunk of Rebuild Illinois funding for those crumbling roads and bridges. Specifically, this would be $23.49 billion during the 2020-25 fiscal years, all of which is detailed in a spreadsheet formally designated as the Proposed Highway Improvement Program and apparently known to IDOT intimates as "the Multi-Year Plan, or MYP."

Included in the MYP are such big-league projects as a $1.2 billion reconstruction of Interstate 80 from Ridge Road to Route 30 in and around Joliet, featuring "multiple bridge replacements, including aging, obsolete structures over the Des Plaines River."

Eventually, according to IDOT, "every part of Illinois will see investment from Rebuild Illinois, which will put $33.2 billion into our aging transportation system alone and support an estimated 540,000 jobs throughout the state. (As) part of this plan, local governments will receive $4 billion in transportation funds to meet their specific needs -- their first increase in 20 years."

So for those of us in Lake County who rarely if ever travel the "critical freight corridor" being revamped on I-80, what's in that local government share over the next six fiscal years? Well, you can pore through the 990-page document yourself, but here are a few local highlights to pique your interest:

* Belvidere Road from Knight Avenue in Park City to the Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan: Resurfacing and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements are budgeted at $2.24 million, and another $500,000 will go toward replacement of a culvert west of Green Bay Road.

* Deerfield Road bridge at Route 41 in Highland Park: This nearly half-mile bridge deck, which also crosses the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and a strip of light industrial businesses, will be rebuilt for $4.8 million.

* Deerpath Road at Route 41 in Lake Forest: The outdated and flood-prone underpass is lined up for $11.2 million in improvements that include drainage enhancements and a pump station.

* Grand Avenue from Munn Road to Sheehan Drive in Lake Villa/Lindenhurst: With Grand currently under reconstruction east of Munn, $15 million will go toward resurfacing, widening, adding of turn lanes and other improvements to the west.

* Grand Avenue from Green Bay Road to the Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan: As with Belvidere Road, one of the other primary east-west roadways in the heart of Waukegan will be resurfaced with $2.26 million from IDOT.

* Green Bay Road from Wadsworth Road to Sunset Avenue in Beach Park: Currently two lanes, Green Bay will receive $80 million toward additional lanes along this 2.5-mile stretch. Of that total, $16.4 million is included in the 2020 fiscal year for engineering and land acquisition.

* Routes 43 and 176 interchange in Lake Bluff: Among the "major highway projects" listed by IDOT, as reported last summer, is $53.2 million toward the modernization of this 1930's-era interchange. A total of $10 million is designated for 2020 toward land acquisition and engineering.

* Route 60/83 in Mundelein: Central-county commuters can rejoice at a $129.4 million package of improvements from Route 176 down to the Canadian National Railway tracks near Diamond Lake Road. Not only will the roadway be widened for a good three miles, but a $22.5 million railroad bridge will be featured. The coming fiscal year will see $9 million of that amount designated for engineering and land acquisition.

* Route 120 in Grayslake: A choke point west of Route 45 will be widened from its current two-lane configuration for roughly one mile to nearly Atkinson Road, with $29.6 million designated through 2025 and $1.4 million of that coming in 2020 for design engineering and environmental studies.

* Route 120 over the Des Plaines River: A new bridge deck is budgeted at $2.5 million.

* Sheridan Road from Greenwood Avenue in Waukegan to Russell Road in Winthrop Harbor: Resurfacing on this 7.5-mile section of the primary lakefront route to and from Wisconsin is budgeted for $5.25 million.

* Stearns School Road at Route 41 in Gurnee: As detailed here over the summer, the Lake County Division of Transportation is looking at this accident-plagued intersection for improvements that include twin dedicated left-turn lanes for northbound Route 41. IDOT will contribute $2.8 million toward what had been estimated as a $2.55 million overall project.

* Washington Street at Green Bay Road in Waukegan: One of the county's busier intersections will get $2.5 million toward the addition of turning lanes, with another $250,000 designated for land acquisition.

* Washington Street east of Route 41 in Gurnee/Park City: A new bridge deck over railroad tracks is budgeted at $2 million.

There is more, so much more, on IDOT's wish list for the first half-decade of Rebuild Illinois. Those of us who have been paying that extra 19-cent gas tax -- which is contributing an estimated $400 million annually to back the construction bonds -- should expect nothing less.

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