Thursday, March 28, 2013
Residents are asked to take a short online survey to help IDOT in the development stages of the bike transportation plan.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is looking for input on their new bike transportation plan. The Illinois Bike Transportation Plan will follow the Long Range Plan’s theme of Transforming Transportation for Tomorrow and will provide the Department with policies, best practices and strategic direction for implementing a sustainable, multimodal vision for Illinois. Take IDOT's online survey about the bike plan In order to gain input from as many stakeholders as possible, the Plan will set up an advisory group with other state agencies (IDNR and others) and bicycling stakeholders such as (but not limited to) the League of Illinois Bicyclists, the Illinois Greenways and Trails Council, and state Metropolitan Planning Organizations (…
Thursday, August 23, 2012
The store with drive-thru, which is proposed for the former BP location, was sent back to the committee level for further review.
For everyone anticipating a new Dunkin’ Donuts in Northfield, it turns out there is time now for the proverbial extra cup of coffee as the matter was sent back to the committee level for additional review Monday. The proposed 1,900 square-foot store at the former BP location, 1900 Willow Rd., was referred back to the Architectural Commission for further review on the streetscape along Willow Road, outdoor seating and signage variances. Some residents who live on Crooked Creek Lane, which is directly south of the proposed store, say the new store and proposed drive-thru could bring traffic, noise and lighting issues. “I’ve worked hard all my life and I’ve earned the right not to get up at five in the morning,” said Dean Poolis, a …
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Village board sets out design details, and state and local costs to widen road.
The Northfield village board on Monday night approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation for the widening of Willow Road from two lanes to four. The project, which could start next spring, will cost the state about $33.7 million. Northfield’s costs will be about $1.3 million, but that will likely be reduced by a state transportation grant and reimbursement from private property owners for a traffic light that will benefit them. What’s more, the village negotiated $2.5 million in special project funding from the state that can be put towards the village’s portion of the project's storm water improvements and utility projects. Earlier: Questions raised at Willow Road public hearing Attorney Edward …
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday's meetings offered IDOT officials the chance to explain the benefits of their proposed plans. Yet some nearby residents questioned the longevity of the plan's benefits.
Dozens of people from Northfield, Glenview, Northbrook and surrounding communities soaked up an in-depth look at the redesign of Willow Road at Thursday's public hearing at New Trier High School’s Northfield Campus. While Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) officials offered feedback and explanation, nearby residents still seemed skeptical. The plan would impact the congested artery from Waukegan Road to the Edens Expressway. With an estimated price tag of $29 million, the proposal includes four 10-foot-wide lanes for most of its length, with a landscaped median, left-turn lanes, modernized traffic signals and sidewalks along both sides. A pedestrian-only signal would allow people to stop traffic to cross Willow Road between …
Friday, July 22, 2011
With recommendations on the table for two or four lanes, Willow Road may be ready for the next step.
Officials and residents from four North Shore suburbs butted heads over a 1.2-mile stretch of road during Thursday night's meeting at New Trier Township High School in Northfield. The issue could see a resolution within the next year and a green light within the next four years. Since 2009 the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has studied two miles of Willow Road, from Waukegan Road to Interstate Highway 94, to give reports on traffic flow, preliminary engineering and the environment. Earlier: Patch's story on Willow Road from September 2010 Throughout the course of the study, a state-mandated Community Advisory Group (CAG) made up of 18 community leaders and residents from Northfield as well as seven from Glenview, Northbrook …
42.095916
-87.725687
Hill Road Park
Green Bay Rd & Sunset Rd, Winnetka, IL
/articles/willow-road-could-see-roadwork-by-2015
1285229
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
At Thursday's study meeting, IDOT introduced alternative design solutions that include not touching Willow Road at all.
The two most vocal villages in the Willow Road debate – Northfield and Glenview – continue to loudly advocate their preferences: Northfield wants the three-lane plan the state approved in 2005, and Glenview wants the 1.2 mile stretch of road in question to be expanded to four or five lanes. Meanwhile the Illinois Department of Transportation project team assigned to study the road and plan the new design, led by Pete Harmet, has moved along with the process of looking at alternatives beyond adding one or two lanes to the road. At Thursday’s seventh Community Advisory Group meeting, IDOT introduced 15 potential alternatives for the road design, which include: Members on the CAG came up with other potential alternatives such as making …
42.1053
-87.79024
Willow Rd & Sunset Ridge Rd, Northfield, IL
/articles/willow-road-study-moves-closer-to-design-phase
/locations/3171407
42.10161
-87.78056
Willow Rd & Wagner Rd, Northfield, IL
/articles/willow-road-study-moves-closer-to-design-phase
/locations/3171408
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Going into final year of state study to redesign roadway, Glenview uses a village-funded public relations group in its debate with other communities.
In the game where the squeakiest wheel gets the grease, Glenview residents are trying to improve their chances that the Illinois Department of Transportation's two-year design study of Willow Road will end in their favor: expanding the road to at least four lanes. Feeling its residents' voices were initially not loud enough on the study's Community Advisory Group – where 13 Northfield village and community representatives sit across from four representatives from Glenview, four from Northbrook and two from Winnetka – the Village of Glenview hired public affairs firm Jasculca Terman and Associates, Inc. in August to help organize the community. And since the firm launched the Move Willow Forward website, village officials believe its impact…
42.10161
-87.78056
Willow Rd & Wagner Rd, Northfield, IL
/articles/recruiting-loud-voices-to-win-willow-road-debate
/locations/2832652
42.1053
-87.79024
Willow Rd & Sunset Ridge Rd, Northfield, IL
/articles/recruiting-loud-voices-to-win-willow-road-debate
/locations/2832653
42.10539
-87.79894
Willow Rd & Waukegan Rd, Northfield, IL
/articles/recruiting-loud-voices-to-win-willow-road-debate
/locations/2832654
Monday, November 22, 2010
Half of Thursday's Willow Road study group meeting was taken up with discussion of implementing school speed zones in Northfield, which it doesn't qualify for, according to state standards.
In the ongoing study sessions to, once and for all, devise a road plan for improving traffic and safety on Willow Road, Northfield representatives on the committee have continually used the forum to ask the Illinois Department of Transportation to implement school speed zones in their village. On Thursday, IDOT representatives finally came through with an answer: No. One hour before the sixth Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting came to order, committee members received a written response to member Phoebe Raymond's June request for school speed zones, wherein IDOT explained that the portion of Willow Road that passes Sunset Ridge School and Middlefork School does not qualify for 20-mile-per-hour speed zones along it. Pete Harmet, bureau …
42.10539
-87.79894
Willow Rd & Waukegan Rd, Northfield, IL
/articles/idot-no-school-zones-on-willow-in-northfield
/locations/2510270
42.1053
-87.79024
Willow Rd & Sunset Ridge Rd, Northfield, IL
/articles/idot-no-school-zones-on-willow-in-northfield
/locations/2510271
J Connors
10:20 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
It is about time. The Northfield village fathers have had their head in the sand about this for a long time and I am a Norhfield resident. The present configuration is much more of a safety issue than the proposed plan. Jim more ›