Glencoe's Sheridan Road Work Targets Mid-August for Completion

This has been a challenging summer for Glencoe residents and not because of the seemingly constant triple digit heat. There has also been the Sheridan Road construction zone, which has made the very important north-south thoroughfare difficult to navigate.

Glencoe is installing a new 12-inch water main on Sheridan Road from Beach Road all the way north to North Shore Congregation Israel. The water main will connect to exisiting water mains on side streets adjacent to Sheridan Road and will provide improved pressure and system relizability, according to the village's website. 

The $3.6 million project, which started near Memorial Day, is expected to be completed in mid-August, according to Village Engineer Christine Van Dornick.

Work has already progressed past Knollwood Lane, but the Stone and Newhall bridges still need to be completed so detours will remain in place, Van Dornick said.

Detours remain

During construction, only northbound traffic is allowed on Sheridan Road and southbound traffic is being detoured to Green Bay Trail or Green Bay Road.

“On the state road we do not have complete utility information therefore we have to use extra caution to account for unknown utilities,” she said of the construction project. “IDOT does not have a map that shows us that. Even if we have complete information such as on village streets, some of the original utilities were installed 100 years ago and there is always extra caution taken around older utilities.”

For more about construction in New Trier Township, read: 

Then there is also the issue of people who use the road even if it is temporarily off limits.

Stops in construction zone

From June 1 to July 16, 168 people were stopped in the construction zone and 133 tickets were issued, according to Glencoe Police Chief Mike Volling.

An Evanston pastor met with Glencoe village officials on July 16 over a racial profiling claim that occured in the construction zone. Volling does not believe any prejudice occurred. Both sides are preparing for another meeting July 25 and the possibility of a lawsuit has not yet been ruled out.

“There have been cyclists of motorists or cyclists going the wrong way through the detour,” Van Dornick said. “We as staff sometimes have to turn people around.”

The $3.6 million project is funded with a loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. 

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