Plainfield prioritizes road projects
By Madhu Mayer Correspondent January 30, 2013 8:42AM
Updated: March 5, 2013 6:10AM
Recognizing plans are futile if no action is taken, the village of Plainfield is prioritizing construction projects that could shape the community’s roads for years to come.
The Plainfield Village Board on Monday reviewed results of prioritization projects made possible by a $120,000 grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.
CMAP is the official regional planning organization for the Northeastern Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.
CMAP developed and now guides the implementation of “Go to 2040,” which is metropolitan Chicago’s first comprehensive regional plan in more than 100 years, to address anticipated population growth of more than two million new residents.
“The goal of this project is to incorporate the updated comprehensive plan and previously completed transportation studies into a single, more manageable document,” said Randall Jessen, superintendent of public improvements for Plainfield. “The study will also look at current and future land uses within the community with additional consideration provided for the historic downtown area.
“Projects were prioritized based on public and staff input, project readiness, potential for receiving matching funds, cost and feasibility,” he said.
“High-priority projects are those that can be built within a five-year time frame. Moderate-priority projects are those that can be built between five to 10 years and most do not have guaranteed funding sources.”
Long-term considerations are those that are anticipated to be constructed beyond the 10-year period, require significant funding and will involve right-of-way acquisition.
High-priority projects, according to Jessen, include Phase II engineering for the 143rd Street extension from Route 59 to Route 126; reconstruct/resurface Renwick Road from DuPage River to Route 30; reconstruct intersection, add turn lanes and traffic signals from Route 126 to County Line Road; install traffic signals at Route 126 and Meadow Lane; Drauden-Steiner-Heggs’ roads extension from 143rd Street to 135th Street; and widen 135th Street from Van Dyke Road to Route 59.
Moderate-priority projects include completing the Phase I study of 143rd Street extension from County Line Road to Steiner Road; constructing 143rd Street extension from Route 59 to Route 126; channelization and traffic signals at Route 59 and 127th Street; and pavement reconstruction and traffic signals on Route 30 from 143rd Street to 119th Street.
Long-term projects include the 119th Street realignment from Ridge Road to Route 30; construct the 143rd Street extension from County Line to Steiner roads; extend Van Dyke Road from Lockport Street to Renwick Road; and construct I-55 frontage roads from Route 30 to Route 126.
Those who want to offer suggestions can forward them to www.plainfieldtransportation.com. Based on input from residents, extending 143rd Street from Route 59 to Route 126 remains the top priority, followed by access to transit services.
