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Committee approves a slate of traffic, bridge and trail contracts and grant applications
Summary
The Lake County Public Works & Transportation Committee voted unanimously by voice to approve multiple contracts, appropriations and grant applications on Dec. 3, including ITS upgrades, traffic-signal installations, bridge and corridor engineering, and a DCEO bike-path grant; staff provided timelines and noted public-access impacts where applicable.
The Lake County Public Works and Transportation Committee approved a series of transportation contracts, supplemental appropriations and grant applications at its Dec. 3 meeting, advancing projects that county staff say will improve safety, connectivity and system reliability.
Key actions approved by voice vote included postponing one sanitary-sewer intergovernmental agreement to Jan. 7, 2026, and approving multiple county DOT contracts and appropriations. Shane Schneider, Lake County DOT director and county engineer, described each item and the expected schedule.
Votes at a glance (motion outcome: approved unless otherwise noted):
- Postponement: Joint resolution (Item 7.1) to postpone first amendment to the amended and restated retail sanitary sewer service agreement with the Village of Hawthorne Woods to the Jan. 7, 2026 PWT Committee meeting. Motion by Member Hunter; second by Member Casben. (Staff had indicated outstanding IGA details.)
- Joint resolution (Item 8.4): Recertification of the Quiet Zone along the Canadian National Railroad line (nine municipalities plus county); appropriation of $27,000 of quarter-percent sales tax for a recertification engineering study; staff will submit a Federal Railroad Administration recertification application.
- Joint resolution (Item 8.5): Temporary easement agreement with the Lake County Forest Preserve District for Deerfield Road improvements; $3,000 payment for a temporary easement; construction out to bid in 2026, main work expected in 2027; trail detours and advanced notice planned.
- Contract (Item 8.6): Hometown Electric Inc., Lakeville, IL: ITS field elements installation, $999,998.50; appropriation of $1,200,000 of quarter-percent sales tax for transportation funds. Work includes fiber, conduit, cameras and redundant fiber in Midlothian.
- Contract (Item 8.7): Hometown Electric Inc.: traffic signal installations, $2,560,475.20; appropriation of $3,073,000 of matching tax funds. Two intersections (Sunset/Northern in Waukegan and Deerfield Pkwy/Barclay) will receive new signals and sidewalk connectivity improvements.
- Grant application (Item 8.8): Application to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a $518,000 nonmotorized grant to construct a bike path on Haynesville Road (Washington St. to Rollins Rd.).
- Supplemental appropriation/change order (Item 8.9): $35,000 matching funds and Change Order No. 2 for $82,601.17 to cover additional concrete patching after summer pavement buckling; staff noted materials met Illinois Department of Transportation mix designs.
- Joint resolution (Item 8.10/8.1 in agenda order): Annual renewal with PACE for Ride Lake County paratransit service for 2026, appropriating $1,000,000; PACE contributes ~50% of operating funding and anticipated federal/RTA grants would cover approximately 25%, leaving an estimated county share of about 25% after reimbursements; ridership ~low 40,000s per year.
- Engineering contracts (Items 8.11): Backstrom Woodman, Inc. (phase 3 construction engineering at Washington St./IL-21) up to $332,345; Parsons Transportation Group (phase 1 professional engineering for Deerfield Road bridge replacement) up to $937,165; Horner and Schifrin, Inc. (phase 2 resurfacing and sidewalk-gap analysis for Hutchins Road) up to $510,242 (transcript notes appropriation of "$613" matching funds; staff to confirm); HDR Engineering, Inc. (phase 1 engineering for Fairfield Road improvements) up to $2,689,513.
Committee members asked questions about contractor liability for pavement buckling, camera-access sharing with public safety dispatch centers (Schneider said nearly all county dispatch centers have access), timeline for Deerfield Road construction (bid in 2026, construction 2027) and detour signage during trail impacts.
All listed items were advanced by motion and carried by voice vote; the committee did not provide roll-call tallies on the record and used standard voice voting for the meeting.
