Kendall County Times

State lawmakers are looking forward to the improvements forthcoming for Kane County's infrastructure. 

Earlier this month, the Illinois Department of Transportation announced Rebuild Illinois, a capital investment program backed by Sens. Karina Villa (D-West Chicago) and Cristina Castro (D-Elgin). 

“Our state is proving its commitment to our community by investing significant resources to improve local infrastructure in Kane County,” Villa said in an April 13 release. “Families in the 25th District will greatly benefit from the numerous job opportunities and road safety enhancements that will come from these projects, and I urge residents to be patient and slow down in work zones as these projects get underway.”

Four Kane County projects are slated to get funding from the Rebuild Illinois' $33.2 billion budget for the entire state's aging infrastructure and transportation system. The program is the largest single capital investment in Illinois history, with investments tabbed for all of the state's transportation sectors. 

“For both Kane County residents and visitors, having a modernized, safe transportation sector is so important,” Castro said. “Updating things like traffic lights and sidewalk ramps to be ADA compliant will make our community more accessible while also bringing more jobs to the area.”

A map of all projects in DuPage and Kane County is available here.

The projects in Kane County are, courtesy of the press release:

• Illinois 31 (Lake Street) from Reagan Memorial Tollway (Interstate 88) to Rathbone Avenue: Resurfacing project with new ADA-compliant sidewalk ramps scheduled to begin this spring and be completed this fall.

• Illinois 31 (State Street) from Strom Drive to West Road: Ongoing resurfacing project with new ADA-compliant sidewalk ramps, improved drainage, and repairs to the State Street bridge over U.S. 20 (Elgin Bypass), which started last summer and is anticipated to be completed this fall. 

• Illinois 47 at Main Street: Ongoing project to replace the existing bridge, reconstruct the intersection and modernize traffic signals. The project started in 2019 and is anticipated to be completed in summer 2022.

• Illinois 72 (Oak Knoll Drive) at Getzelman Road/State Street: Intersection improvement project, with new traffic signals, paving, ADA-compliant sidewalk ramps, along with improved drainage and lighting. The project is scheduled to begin this summer and completed in late 2022.