December 19, 2024
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IDOT seeks dangerous intersection solution

By Rochelle Eiselt
A drawing of IDOT's proposed solution of a roundabout located at Illinois Route 1 and County Line Road four miles north of Grant Park, which has been a dangerous intersection leading to many fatalities over the years.

A drawing of IDOT's proposed solution of a roundabout located at Illinois Route 1 and County Line Road four miles north of Grant Park, which has been a dangerous intersection leading to many fatalities over the years. (Daily Journal/Rochelle Eiselt)

GRANT PARK — An alternative to fix a hazardous northern Kankakee County intersection between Grant Park and Beecher could result in the county’s first roundabout intersection.

At an Illinois Department of Transportation public hearing Thursday, officials said the roundabout could be the best way to slow traffic at a site which has been the location for some 80 accidents — one resulting in a fatality — between the years 2017-2021.

The focus of the meeting was a proposed roundabout intersection at Illinois Route 1 and West County Line Road (County Road 12000), which is about four miles north of Grant Park.

The roundabout comes with a project cost of $6 million.

The other IDOT alternative is a restricted U-turn crossing (RCUT), which would cost $9 million.

There have been longstanding issues with this intersection.

“Safety is at the front of a lot of what we do,” said Steve Schilke, IDOT’s bureau chief of programming.

IDOT worked along with Grant Park Police Department on this study. Crash reports were analyzed.

A roundabout would place a new single-lane elliptical roundabout shifted slightly to the north of the existing intersection with the longer side oriented along Illinois Route 1 to minimize right-of-way impacts while allowing room for large vehicles to make needed turns.

Space is a concern as Illinois Route 1 is a heavily-used truck router, with about 30% of its use being large trucks. On average, 5,300 trucks travel daily along Illinois 1 at Grant Park.

The project team reviewed crash history at the intersection over five years. Of the 80 reported crashes at the intersection, there were 28 injury crashes resulting in 52 total injuries and one fatality.

Schilke said IDOT is in the preliminary engineering phase, which is expected to conclude in 2025. Phase 2 engineering will follow, which is land acquisition and contract land preparations. That phase will take two to three years.

Phase 3 is construction.

“IDOT continues to monitor this intersection. We have tried to do minor improvements,” Schilke said. “We will continue to do so.”

Schilke said it does take time to build. There’s a little bit of time until the proposed solution happens. Schilke said roundabouts are very effective as IDOT has equipped numerous intersection with this alternative design.

“Right now we want to make sure we are on the right path,” he said.

For example, he said, engineers must identify the site’s drainage patterns.

IDOT wants public feedback regarding the roundabout solution. IDOT will take the public’s input from the meeting and make sure they’re on the right path and refine the design of the road.

There was a large turnout at the meeting.

“We gotten a lot of feedback,” Schilke said. “We got a good turnout, which is exactly what we wanted.”

https://daily-journal.com/news/idot-seeks-dangerous-intersection-solution/article_d1e4bf56-b906-11ef-9098-eb9de1500757.html