Construction Reduces Lanes on Lake Cook Road Beginning Wednesday

Beginning Wednesday, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction on Lake Cook Road between Wilmot and Pfingsten roads for construction.

The Cook County Highway Department will be patching and resurfacing the 1.2-mile stretch of road and widening a four-lane stretch to six lanes from Pine Street to the east edge of Pfingsten Road. Crews are expected to be working through the summer and into the fall, according to Mark McMillan, supervising engineer for the Cook County Highway Department’s downtown construction office.

“The road was deteriorating to the point that it was no longer functioning as a smooth and safe effective road, so we felt it was necessary to fix the potholes and clean up as many rough edges as we could,” McMillan said.

With an estimated cost of $5.9 million, the project includes not just patching, resurfacing and more lanes but the relocation of a water main, traffic signal modernizations, new signage and pavement striping and new sidewalk and landscaping. The money will come from revenues collected through the state’s motor fuel tax, according to McMillan, and will not be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Traffic on Lake Cook Road will be reduced from the usual four lanes to one lane in each direction for the duration of the entire project, according to a press release from the Cook County Highway Department and the Village of Deerfield.

“We realize that people are inconvenienced, but it’s the only way we can fix the roads,” McMillan said.