Village Officially Enters Payment Agreement for Route 30 Widening

With work on the massive, $73 million widening of Route 30 already underway, the Village Board approved an intergovernmental agreement Monday night that outlines the responsibilities each party has for maintenance and cost sharing.

New Lenox will pay $607,342 toward the project, covering portions of upgrades such as requested bike paths, sidewalks and traffic signals. The project—which will widen Route 30 to four lanes along an 8.6-mile stretch through New Lenox, Mokena and Frankfort—is heavily funded by federal and state money.

More than half the village's costs come from new traffic signals:

• $322,000 at Route 30 and Vancina Lane (100 percent of the cost)
• $32,200 at Route 30 and Joliet Highway (10 percent)
• $32,200 at Route 30 and Marley Road (10 percent)
• $16,100 at Route 30 and Schoolhouse Road (5 percent)

Additionally, the village will kick in 20 percent of the cost for a requested sidewalk ($11,960) and bike path ($35,800).

The village has already paid for widening a portion of Route 30 in front of Walmart, and IDOT has already done some work, such as tree removal to help speed up the process of moving utility lines. Actual construction is expected to begin this summer, and most of the project should be complete by the end of 2012 (with summer 2013 being the target completion date).

The goal is to accommodate for a projected traffic increase. Right now, this stretch of Route 30—extending from Marley Road in New Lenox to Harlem Avenue in Frankfort—sees about 16,000 vehicles per day. But that’s expected to rise to 26,500 by 2020.

“It’s exceeded its design life,” Tony Quigley, the district IDOT bureau chief of design, said at a . “(The widening) is needed with the traffic volumes out here.”

Originally, the village was asked to pay 80 percent of its costs up front, but Engineer Will Nash was able to negotiate paying $100,000 this summer, $200,000 in summer 2012 and the remainder upon the project's completion.

The Village of Mokena will pay $69,000 in the agreement, and Frankfort will pay $693,520 as a part of this agreement, which extends to La Grange Road. Frankfort will pay a total of $1.03 million, .