Good morning, everyone.

Today is June 3rd, 2026, and I call the Lake County Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting to order at 8 30 a.m.

In addition to being able to attend in-person remote attendance has been made available to the public via Zoom at the link at on the agenda.

This meeting is being recorded through Zoom.

Um the Pledge of Allegiance.

I leads to the flag of the United States of America.

And the public where we just stand.

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Can I get a can I get a roll call, please?

Yes.

Member Kasbin.

Chair Clark.

Here.

Member Hewitt.

Member Hunter.

Vice Chair Maine.

Member Roberts.

And Member Wasick.

Member Roberts did notify us ahead of time that she was not going to be able to attend.

All right.

Do we have let me get this any?

Do we have any public comment today?

There's no public comment.

All right.

Cheers remarks.

It's just that I'm very much looking forward to hearing about our five-year tip today.

I know we all hopefully ready to go on that.

No unfinished business.

Our new business is the consent agenda.

Consent agenda item 8.1.

Can I get a motion in a second, please?

Motion by Kasmin, second by Hunter.

All in favor.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

All right.

Item 8.2 is a regional transportation authority quarterly update.

I believe we have.

There we go.

Go ahead, Zach.

Okay, thank you, Kate.

Uh good morning, everyone.

Uh my name is Zach Braun.

I'm with the RTA's government affairs team.

And today I have uh two updates on the NEATA and people over parking acts.

Uh both of those took effect on June 1st this Monday.

And so now we are entering a period of transformation and transition uh for regional transit.

Um during the transition period, uh, we just want to emphasize that riders in your area uh do not need to take any action due to the transition.

All of our existing customer service functions at the RTA, including paratransit certification, free and reduced fare cards, and other customer service programs will continue to operate without interruption.

Uh and this uh will continue under the RTA through September 1st.

Uh, and then on September 1st, we will officially become uh the Northern Illinois Transit Authority or NETA.

Um Monday, due to the NITA Act, our board of directors did hold a special meeting where we approved a quarter percent increase to the RTA regional sales tax, and that will go in effect on August 1st in all six counties in the region.

And so that's projected to bring in just under 200 million for the uh remainder of this year and more than 500 million for the full year of 2027.

And so while we're entering a period of transition, uh riders are going to begin to see improvements uh immediately.

Uh starting uh at the beginning of this week, uh new uh initiatives are rolling out across the system.

Uh we have invested 60 million dollars into safety and security improvements, which includes sworn police officers on transit vehicles and stations, and that started at the top of the month.

Um we are also going to see service improvements on CTA at Metra and PACE service.

And uh later this fall, the Metro Access Pilot Program, which offers uh riders who receive SNAP benefits, a half-off fare on Metro service, that will be expanded to include CTA and PACE as well.

So great news for riders over the summer.

Uh thanks to the NETA Act.

And then uh on the People Over Parking Act.

I know there are a lot of uh local concerns on the scope and definitions included in there.

Uh the General Assembly did uh pass a uh a trailer bill that clarified what constitutes a uh public transportation hub and corridor.

Um and while Nita won't be the enforcing agency for the people over parking act, we are developing resources uh to help your communities.

Uh we are going to have a map of affected areas released this summer, and then we're also going to open a new call for local technical assistance um for our community planning program.

So if your communities are in one of those affected areas and need to update their zoning codes, the RTA and Nita are available to help.

That concludes my report.

I'm happy to answer any questions before Kate has some updates.

Yes, thank you.

We've got a couple questions.

Member Wasig.

Thank you, Chair.

Thanks, Zach.

And just curious.

So when this NETA Act was passed, there was not some real clarity on whether the quarter percent sales tax uh could be used for other transportation projects, and we utilize it quite a bit.

So is that what can you uh kind of answer that question?

Is like, is that still available for road projects, things like that.

It it is.

I can answer that.

Yes, this is a different one.

Oh, okay.

Yes, this is an additional quarter percent sales tax.

So our quarter percent sales tax translation, which we do keep a close eye on.

So as we do, that is not that is not affected by this legislation.

Okay.

We still have that one.

Good.

Thanks.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Yeah, thank you.

Any other questions?

All right, yeah.

Thank you.

And I'm really excited.

I don't, I don't know if, but to see these improvements, what a time of transition with this new NETA Act.

So thank you for letting keeping us updated on all the different things that are going to be happening.

I'm looking, I know we've heard from a lot of people that are very um glad to be looking forward to the safety improvements.

So you said, as you said, that things are starting right away.

And I think that's important for us to know that already these improvements are going.

So um it'll be good to see what happens.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone for our mobility management division.

I just have one update regarding our ride chair access program and our taxi access program.

This is for ADA paratransit riders.

It both are subsidized ride share programs through PACE for our ride share access program and taxi access program.

The current uh cap on rides is 30 rides per month.

But as of May 1st, writers can now apply for 10 additional rides, which will increase the monthly cap to 40 rides per month.

Customers could do this through our FAIR portal.

They enter their information similar to as they would when they're applying for an RTA card.

And if anyone has any questions, they can call our RTA customer service staff at 312 91310 to get assistance.

So they must already be certified for ADA paratransit enrolled in the ride chair access program or taxi access program to get that increase.

And more information is on our website, which is included in the update.

I will share via email.

And any questions for me?

That's all I have.

That's really good to hear.

I feel like 40 rides more reflects.

I think people need to get to work.

That's you know, that's 20 businesses, 20 business days a week a month.

So that's really good to hear.

Hopefully, we can help promote that too.

So that I'm sure you're doing outreach to people.

So I'm really glad to hear that.

Yes, yes.

I will be, I am the uh staff that covers Lake County.

So I will be doing outreach about that.

And as ZAC mentioned, we're looking at expanding our access pilot program.

So you will likely hear me talking about that, and I will be doing outreach about that in the next coming ones.

Terrific.

I know I've got a number of questions about that program, and people who use it depend on it.

Um, it's really helpful.

So thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you both for your update.

All right.

Okay, so item 8.3 is a public hearing for the Delmar Wood subdivision related to the establishment of a special service area.

Can I have a motion in a second to get to start the public hearing?

To open the public hearing.

Open the public hearing.

Motion by Hunter, second by Kasbin.

Good morning.

Yep, and I'll let Steve kind of this is related to an item that was previously discussed in this committee and acted on by the board.

So I'll have Steve kind of introduce what we're here to do today.

Yeah.

So hello, Steve Rice from the Civil Division of the States Attorney's Office.

Um what we're here to do today is conduct the hearing on the SSA.

The SSA statute sets forth the whole process of how an SSA gets created, and one step in that is to conduct a public hearing.

Um we had in the ordinance that y'all passed already, we had the county board delegate to this committee that the hearing be conducted here.

So that's what we would intend to do today.

Um we've already opened the hearing.

That was good.

I will close it at the end.

I think those are the two kind of uh motions that we'll hear.

We'll entertain any comments uh that anyone might have.

Um, and then let me just read what we're doing and warning.

This is kind of a vague statutory guideline.

Uh, so we'll we can talk briefly about that.

Uh what the statute says uh is that at the public hearing, any interested person located within the special service area may file with the county clerk written objections to and may be heard orally in respect to any issues embodied in the notice.

And the notice was the full SSA statute.

We did the notice and this and the statute together.

Um the county shall hear and determine all protests and objections at the hearing, and the hearing may be adjourned to another date if needed.

Um at the public hearing or at the first regular meeting of the corporate authorities thereafter, the county may delete area from the special service area, uh, so long as it remains contiguous.

Okay, so we're going to hear and determine any objections.

Um can we do questions?

Okay.

Can I do quite sure?

May I do a question about the process too?

Yeah.

Okay, thanks.

So Steve, could you remind me when we used to, and I should have asked this before when we had this earlier vote.

We used to have these out in the area so that, and often in the evening, so that people who had an issue didn't have to travel here, didn't have to take time off from work.

We we changed, I mean, we used to have the whole county board there, which was impossible to get a quorum.

And then I think the those duties were changed to this um this committee instead.

And we also changed when and where it was held.

Yeah, the statute, the SSA statute doesn't prescribe that.

It's just kind of a basic open meetings act analysis generally.

Yeah.

And so you know, certainly uh we could have held it at a different time in a different location and with a different constituted body.

Yeah.

As you've noted, we've done it this way before with the public works committee.

Yeah, um, just for convenience, because we are such a large board.

Right.

Um, so I mean the the basic answer is this is a proper way to do it, or at least it's not prohibited by the statute.

And so we've chosen to do it this way, kind of in light of what we anticipated this would entail today.

Yes.

Um, there's been some I'm sorry.

Oh, I I was gonna say, yes, I think in this situation, although I can think of other situations, Steve.

I think you were on Forest Haven and things like that that seemed to be going along swimmingly, and then literally, you know, an 11th hour thing that did it.

So I I'm fine with this, but I just wanted to get that out there so that people know on this committee on this board that we have done it other ways.

And I would just keep that in mind that there might be times in which holding it here and at this time is is not going to be the best way.

And we've often held them, you know, at a township or something like that, um, with there's um a lot of public comment.

So that's just my comment.

Yeah, and I would just say, you know, we we did some informal meeting, we did a whole series of informal meetings uh prior to this, not prescribed by the statute, but as fact-finding, and those we did do in in the Delmar area.

We did them at in Deerfield in the evening, you know, along the same thought line.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I mean, because there has been a lot, there has been outreach and meetings in the area, um, but before this, but just not this meeting.

And I know I was trying to remember, is it just for SSAs?

Because I feel like we had a meeting once where we all had to go somewhere and people didn't show up or whatever.

Um, if it was for H HS, uh whatever.

Yes, uh member Hunter.

Thanks, Chair.

I think that also in bringing up relevant to today's uh SSA.

I mean, we have things set up now where we can have people attend electronically where five, six years ago, we just didn't have it.

We we we they could view, but they couldn't participate since COVID, we've got those rules and things.

So I mean, it's not people traversing here anymore on horseback.

So I I think I think we're okay.

Yeah.

Vice General.

Yeah, no doubt.

I just think people who work can't necessarily, you know, do that.

They can't come out.

Um, and I just think again, not for this situation, but um Steve, if you could remind the committee, I believe um also our own rules related to SSA that if an SSA is um then challenged, successfully challenged, um, and thus denied that I believe our own board rules say that that SSA may not come back before this committee for two years.

We had to think that's actually statutory even.

So yeah, our rules would reflect.

I think yeah, I don't I don't think it was statute.

I thought that that was like our thing, and maybe it happened, but again, it's just important for people to know if you're working on one.

If it comes and it fails, there's a two-year moratorium on that.

And it was partly related to how much staff time is put into, which is a lot.

So thanks.

All right.

Sure.

There was a motion a second to open it.

Can there just be a quick voice vote on that to be clean with the all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed open.

Steve, I think you stated that we the or maybe you didn't.

This was properly noticed.

We provided uh uh a newspaper uh release and uh we published it in the newspaper letters were provided to all residents.

We didn't hear any objections or concerns with respect to the time or the location of the hearing.

We've had had numerous public uh meetings out on site three to four in the with the residents in the evening.

So um nobody's here today.

I think there's a couple residents online, but nobody has requested to speak as far as I'm aware at this point.

Member Wasick.

That's where a lot of people are getting their information these days, and uh I don't know how many people look at the newspaper where wherever statutory requirements, right?

For public meetings, notices.

Well, the notice requirements are in paper newspapers, yeah.

Yeah, the notice requirements are still old school.

But I mean, from the outreach that's been done, I mean, there's been extensive outreach.

I mean, we've all heard, I mean, we've gotten to hear a lot of this, it's been a long process.

And I I mean, I feel like we've had lots of outreach in the community, a lot of feedback.

This has been a long process.

Um, and so you know, I think maybe reflective of today is I feel like people feel like it's in a good place that we've had the feedback and that we're moving ahead with what the residents want.

So I don't know if you have any concerns about notice or sounds like everything was done statutorily correctly.

Yes.

All right.

So then is the purpose of the purpose of this meeting is so that people who have comments about about this SSA have an opportunity to comment?

Yes.

Okay.

And so the opportunity is open.

If anyone would like to comment, we look online.

There's there's nobody who looks like wants to be commenting online.

Correct?

Or we can wait.

I'm giving it seven seconds.

All right.

But I I don't believe there's any public comment.

There's certainly nobody here, and there's nobody that is interested or has requested to provide public comment online either.

So um the comments been there.

Steve is there any final thoughts or comments from yourself?

No, I think um, you know, obviously, if uh we hear nothing, there's nothing to determine.

Um, and so that would conclude the hearing.

At this point, we'd request a motion to and a second to close the public hearing.

All right.

Can I have a motion?

Motion McCasman, second by Hewitt.

Um, and even before we went, I just want to thank you for all your work on this over these years, and everybody that the people in the neighborhood, everyone who's worked so hard to bring this um to this point.

I think it's definitely gonna be a huge um improv.

It'll be really a good resource for this this SSA for the whole area.

So thank you.

Really thank you for all this work and everyone who worked on it.

All right, all in favor.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right.

The hearing is closed.

Thank you.

All right.

All right, so item 8.4 is a joint resolution authorizing execution of a contract with Bowler Construction Company Inc.

of Waqegan, Illinois, in the amount of 538,600 for the Gerwal Wellhouse Improvements Project.

Can I get a motion in a second?

Motion by Kasmin, second by Hunter.

Good morning, Director McFarlane.

Good morning, Chair and Committee members, Austin and McFarland, public works director.

So this is a continued improvement made to this uh water system.

Um pictured before you is the current Wellhouse and uh Gerwalt that needs improvement, and we acquired this as part of the conversion from the older Island Lake Water Company.

The contract with Boeder is slated to address this issue.

Um let me see if I can show you the correction that we're intended to make here.

No, that's not there.

That's the only slide.

Okay.

So we're hoping to show you the improvement.

The the improvement would make the well house almost um the same color and style, but looking more like the home behind this current unit.

Um, the upgrade will see internal improvement of the well-house as well as well as the foundation.

So some really good improvement that will be made.

We're keeping this well, it is very productive.

We added checked out before, and so we feel that there's a good advantage for us to keep in this within the system.

This for us is one of the one of the final steps in this ARPA project.

The next step to this will be the development of the well on Lake Lakeside, as well as storage on that site as well to complete the project.

And so I do recommend approval of this project.

All right, member Hunter.

Thanks, Chair.

Austin, did you find it unusual?

We only got one bid on this project.

It wasn't usual, but when you look at the costs, the project is a small project at this time of the year.

You're just not going to get too many people bated on this.

It was surprising.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Member Wasig.

Thank you.

And Austin, thanks for this.

Um I'm just curious if the improved well house will look exactly like that, or um I wish I had a picture, you know, we'll featured here, but we'll send that to you.

Yeah, it'll be it will be a significant improvement.

Yeah, I and again, as I said, it will blend a little bit more with uh with the home behind it in terms of the color and style.

So is it is it a different size?

I know we it's slightly bigger than this, but not a lot, but just enough so you can get the treatment equipment inside.

Okay.

And it's it's the it's the building, and there's improvements inside also.

Inside, you'll find the well head itself.

And then the treatment for this.

Okay.

Well tank will be somewhere else, right?

There is no tank associated with this.

Right.

There may be um once we put the the new well, there may be a small pressurized tank, but we won't be keeping the um if there's a tank beneath, we may just abandon that.

Okay, right.

And um, I noticed it's uh ARPA funded, so we're getting it done this year.

But you know, honestly, all that I think at the end of this, we should see all the water system improvements that were made using ARPA dollars.

It's very impressive.

I mean, and this will help, I mean, resiliency and water for like years, decades to come.

Um so that's exciting.

And this, so this well will also be kept on as one of our backup wells eventually.

No, there's no link Michigan water to this system currently.

You know, the the plan is maybe down the road, we can, but currently, if we have a main break in the system, we don't have two or three days of water supply.

So when we get to the final stage with the development on lakeside, we will have more than a week of water storage.

Oh, good.

Right.

That's good to hear.

All right, great project.

We look forward to seeing the new one.

Although this this other one looks kind of cute.

All right, all in favor.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

All right, item 8.5 is a joint resolution authorizing execution of a contract with Horror Construction Inc.

of Goodfield, Illinois in the amount of 40,710 for the Ela Salem Lake Sanitary Sewer Cleaning and Televising Project.

I'm gonna get a motion in a second.

Motion by Kasmin, second by Hunter.

So about a year ago, we add a significant collapsing of a section of this pipe on Salem that created um some challenges for us.

So those repairs were completed, and so now we need to do an assessment of the remainder of that pipe just to see what the what condition that pipe is in.

So this co-op contract will allow inspection of the pipe.

And so after the contractor performs the cleaning and televising, the engineering team will be able to view the condition and determine if further um replacement or repair is needed for that um for the remainder of that pipe.

So this is a key preventative maintenance um approach that we're taking, and so I recommend approval.

Yeah, I'm really glad to see this.

It's always good to pre-know what things are happening as opposed to having a break or something and finding out then.

We don't do prices.

Yeah, I was gonna say, do you expect any surprises?

I guess there's no way to tell, right?

1972.

We'll just see what happens here.

Yeah, we'll just have to wait until that information.

You get the yeah, does everyone watch it go down and you're like, whoa, it's gonna go it's around the next bend with this water system?

All right.

Well, I'm very glad to see this is happening.

I think this is really good preventive and also just for future planning to see what we are gonna have to do in this area.

Right.

Right because member hunter.

Thanks, Chair.

This isn't a forest main.

This is gravity.

This gravity, right?

Because it was built in 72.

I wouldn't, we didn't need to see a lot of forest mains back then.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

Any other questions?

All right, all in favor?

Aye, any opposed?

Motion carries.

All right.

Uh item 8.6 is a joint resolution executing a letter of intent and concurrence related to the Deerfield Road Improvement Project and authorizing an emergency appropriation in the amount of $1,839 and 70 1839,076 from public works reserve funds.

Can I get a motion and second?

Motion by Hewitt, second by Hunter.

So our partners planning to make improvements to the Deerfield Road.

And since we're relocating those pipes and our current Deerfield Road list station does need some improvement, it makes sense at this time.

So while they're re relocated in those pipes that we um upsize and upgrade that lift station as well.

So the letter of intent and concurrence will allow uh public works to pay for the work and Lake County DOT will provide the design and construction for that project.

Public work certainly will phase this project.

And um we're seeking an appropriation today of 1.8 million dollars for that initial payment and be plan to budget for the remainder.

And we have for item 87 is also this project.

So because it kind of goes together with DOT.

So we're going to um so basically this is there's a DOT project that we're gonna talk about, and we can talk about it now too if we want to.

And as part of that project, the pipes are going to have to be relocated, correct?

And that um under the permit, Lake County or public works, you're gonna be paying to relocate the pipes, and it and that's what this is, and it's gonna be paid for over a certain number of years.

Um, and then it's uh all and then there's also some improvements that are gonna be put in here too.

Yeah, to the list stations because that's it's not part of the project, but again, if you upgrade in the pipes and that list station is in does need some repair, it just makes sense to do that at the same time.

Yeah, and if we want we can also take item 8.7.

Oh, if questions like this.

No, I know it.7 is um just because it's um uh director Schneider was gonna come talk about this project too.

It's just related to that.

All right, vice cherry.

Thank you.

Um, thank you.

And this certainly makes sense.

What I'm just wondering is since this wasn't budgeted, uh, if looking forward are are there other so this is coming out of reserves, public reserves, you know, how this impacts um the reserves are um sort of the work plan and are there other things coming forward?

Are you now looking for other things coming forward that weren't in our original work plan that may go, hey?

I mean, this totally makes sense, but we hadn't planned on it.

So are you looking for an update of your work plan keeping these sorts of things in mind?

That is a great question, and and and it is a concern because we do have additional items like this, and we will have to make adjustment.

Hopefully, in our 27th submittal, we may have to include some of those um plans.

For example, the Route 22 project is coming up, and we have some other projects um from IDOT that will impact us in a in a similar fashion.

So we will have to adjust the work plan to include those.

Yeah, I mean, this is a substantial amount of money, you know, virtually because I think the total is $7,356,304, which very nicely we can pay over four years, but this was not budgeted in our capital plan for public works, correct?

Correct.

And so that's what I know, and I had asked this I know question before.

Is so right now you have it in reserves to do this for at least this year, right?

Um, but yeah, is that I guess you'll have to figure out the long-term effects of this because it's you know from the sum of money, and then also like if there are other plans, and was this like a was this more of a surprise that we were gonna have to do this?

Well, you know, that it's we do get notice from the agency and from our partners that this is coming, but then you just don't know what the cost is going to be.

I see.

And is there a way, like kind of what we were you're just saying, Vice Chair, is if we look at other projects that are coming up to know, like just in general, like, oh, we really need to be we know this is gonna be coming, this is gonna be coming.

Is there like a list of potential projects?

Right.

So if you, for example, we'll have the route 22 on our list, you know, we won't be able to identify clearly what the cost is going to be, but we're gonna try and track those going forward.

Yeah, Vice Jeremy.

Thank you, and thank you.

You can see why I just wanted just this.

Yeah.

Um, so do you think something, yeah, because at 22?

You don't know what's in things until you dig it and it's like a house project.

Surprise.

Um do you think something of um of a contingency?

Uh a built-in contingency fee, not fee, a dollar amount for each year to kind of cover these sorts of things.

Where it's like you say, 22 or the state or you know, somebody even a village could do something, and we might have something under their road.

So something like that.

And with the four years, um, if there were something big with the state, would you be able to pay over it for four years?

I mean, are we able to do this over four years only because they're sitting 10 feet away, is what I want to know.

Well, the OT has always been kind to us.

Yeah.

I'm not sure.

We've not, and it'll be again, it's a great question.

We'll get a chance to see what the state will do.

We've not add any in-depth discussion with them on this project.

But um it'll be great if they're open to that.

If not, then certainly we'll have to come back to you for the full amount.

Yeah, I just I like your idea of putting aside some contingency for these road projects and and the movement of our source.

I believe that's something that we should consider.

Yeah, I'm just concerned with this as an enterprise fund.

What that means for our ratings and everything related to that, with um if we start to have some of these big things and we have I mean, this might be de minimis debt on the books related to other projects, but I just try to think broadly about those things.

Thank you.

That's a great concern and great question.

And so it's something that we need to take a look at.

Thanks, Chair.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Didn't we as a board two months ago?

The full board put in, and I wish Chair was here because she would remind that we put in a contingency fund for programs that we were afraid that would not be continued at the federal level.

Federal.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Does that does this qualify for any of that?

No, no.

This is not contemplated with the resolution, something like this.

Okay, thanks.

But I think you're right.

I mean, if if it is the state, if we had to pay this like all at once, which maybe with Route 22, who knows?

I do think maybe planning in an amount, because just for our ratepayers, too, you know, sometimes it's it's easier if you pay a little bit more this year than suddenly we have a you know $15 million project that we have to suddenly, you know, try to pay for.

And so um looking, I don't know if, as I said, I don't know if there is a list of potential large projects that might be coming.

Um and even if it's just an estimate of how to build that in over time versus just having a big hit.

Um, you know, I didn't think about if the state had us do this, if they didn't let us pay over time, how that would look out.

So I I would like, I mean, I think that would be a good thing to look at, and maybe you already are, but you know, how much would you program into that just to kind of smooth it out versus just giant like look what happened this year kind of thing?

You're right, we'll take a look at that and you know.

Terrific.

All right.

So there are any so any other questions for Austin on this.

All right, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Thank you.

And now we'll get to hear more about this project.

Thank you.

Okay, item 8.7 is a joint resolution authorizing an agreement with the state of Illinois, Illinois Department of Transportation for the use of federal highway funds for construction of improvements along Deerfield Road from Illinois Route 21 Milwaukee Avenue to Saunders Road and appropriating 22 million dollars of the quarter percent sales tax for transportation funds.

Can I get a motion in a second?

Motion by Mean, second by Hunter.

Good morning, Director Schneider.

Good morning, uh committee member Shane Schneider, County Engineer and DOT director.

So um, I'll give a little overview on the Deerfield Road project.

Um, so this relates to the last item with public works and the next several items.

Um the project has been underway for over 10 years, and uh we have the project manager Chuck Gleason with us today.

Just want to thank him for all of his effort.

He started scoping this project in 2014 and 2015.

It started in earnest in 2016.

Member Maine has been our partner, and thank you to her for her patience.

We attended a lot of meetings together with all the stakeholders.

Um, so it's been a long time coming.

It's about a 70 million dollar project, all in about 46 million dollars estimated for construction.

So it is a federally uh eligible project.

We've got 29 million dollars in federal funds allocated.

We did go through a significant amount of effort to make all of the improvements within the corridor federally eligible.

So that means the improvements that public works just explained, we made federally eligible.

The improvements that the village of Riverwoods have has to do.

We made federally eligible, and there's some smaller improvements for the village of Buffalo Grove.

We made those federally eligible.

Right now we've got just under 80% of the project federally funded.

Um so once the bids come in and we know the actual construction costs.

Um we're gonna look at if we need to go pursue additional federal grant opportunities.

We can continue to go after federal grants all throughout the project during construction as long as it's an open project.

So our goal here will be to try to secure some additional federal funding that we can share with our stakeholders, our partners, namely public works and the municipalities to help offset some of their costs.

So that that is a goal that I wanted to make you aware of.

Um this item approves the agreement with IDOT in Lake County so we can uh federally fund it.

Um it allows the state to pay for the project up front, then we reimburse the state for our local share.

So we're appropriating 22 million dollars that'll cover our 20% local match plus all the stakeholder costs.

So that's public works in the two municipalities.

Um why are we doing this project?

It's a two-mile corridor between Saunders Road at the east and uh Milwaukee Avenue at the west, heavily congested, uh, particularly in the afternoon uh rush hour.

Uh in the worst case scenarios, it's taking about 35 minutes to go from Saunders to Milwaukee when it's backed up in the afternoon.

Um that's going to be reduced by 70% to seven minutes.

Um there are 353 crashes over the five year study period with 100 injuries.

Um our calculations show that those uh crashes will be reduced by at least 50 percent.

So it's a it's a major capacity and safety improvement project.

Um the roadway is being converted from a two-lane rural cross section to a three-lane uh urban section.

So we'll have a curb and gutter with storm sewer and then a center turn lane.

Uh there'll be additional through lanes and turning lanes at Milwaukee Avenue, uh, new traffic signals at Port Wine and Saunders, and the entire corridor will be tied together with fiber optic cable.

So it'll be in communication, all the traffic signals will be timed up, time timed up, and then a new bike path along the entire corridor from Milwaukee at the west.

It'll carry on the south side of the street to Port Wine, then it'll cross at the signalized uh intersection with a crosswalk and then continue on the north side of the road all the way to Saunders.

So that creates a lot of local connectivity to the Displains River Trail and all the business um activity around uh Milwaukee Corridor.

Um that's it in a nutshell.

And then the next, I think three or four items are all related to the same project.

Can we take them all?

Can I read them all and take them all together?

Or should we go?

Yeah, let me read all of them.

Um, all right.

So item 8.8 is a joint resolution authorizing an agreement with the village of Buffalo Grove for improvements along Deerfield Road from Illinois Route 21 to Saunders Road.

Item 8.9 is an ordinance requesting the conveyance of parcels of land for right of way and temporary and permanent easements from the village of Riverwoods and authorizing agreements with the village for improvements along Deerfield Road from Illinois Route 21 to Saunders Road.

Item 8.10 is a joint resolution appropriating a supplemental amount of 1,450,000 of motor fuel tax funds and improving change order number three in the amount of 1,26,975 for additions to the phase two engineering services contract with Christopher B.

Burke Engineering Limited, Rosemont, Illinois for improvements along Deerfield Road from Illinois Route 21 to Saunders Road.

Oh, one more.

And item 8.11 is a joint resolution authorizing an agreement with Christopher B.

Burke Engineering Limited, Rosemont, Illinois for phase three professional construction engineering services for improvements along Deerfield Road from Illinois Route 21 to Saunders Road at a maximum cost of 4,457,000 and appropriating 5 million 350,000 of the quarter percent sales tax or transportation funds.

Can I get a motion a second for all of those?

Is uh member main just amending her motion to seven through eight eleven.

Okay.

Yeah, member main is amending our motion to for seven through eight eleven and member hunter seconds.

All right.

And then um, okay, great.

And now we can discuss any of those parts.

Okay.

Vice Chairman.

Thank you.

So this um this is the Southern Bookend, then my northern bookend.

It's the Patriot Path.

So this is really exciting.

Chuck, you and I are both still here.

Um yeah, well, I know.

I know I agree.

Uh on my part.

Nice.

Um, and it's been um a lot, a lot of meetings.

Um staff has been great.

Chuck was masterful in truly in many of these meetings.

And um I point to this project and how staff worked on this and how it ended up as an example when people say, Well, you're just gonna come in and do whatever road you want.

And I'm like, that's actually not true.

All right.

I mean, there were constraints and things like that, but the but the the three-lane, and it was one of these challenges because as our director said, the backups there are extensive.

Currently, there is a um fire station at the corner of Saunders and um 22 there.

So that's also a challenge for safety.

But I also really understood the concerns of the village of Riverwoods, because I lived in a similar community in which you are a low density, highly tre community with a lot of trees, and you're in between the toll road and communities to the west that have way higher density, and it's essentially other people's traffic going through there.

So that's that is challenging for people.

But the bike path is gonna be excuse me.

Great and really working on that because you can see all those roads that those people just like up at the Patriot Path, they were so so close, and yet um I would posit that um Deerfield Road is just even though it's smaller, it's just as dangerous as 137 because it's just narrow and there's no shoulder.

So there was no safe way for anyone in that community.

Um DOT has been working on things to the west with um Buffalo Grove.

And there already is a bike path that's probably what, 20 years old at this point, that goes under the toll road and connects to the east with Deerfield, the community of Deerfield.

So you can't see it, it's off the slide.

But there's hundreds of homes over there in Deerfield that will also now have the ability when this is complete to be able to ride their bikes from Deerfield over to the Des Plains River Trail.

And there's really no, excuse me, there's not you'd have to go up to half day preserve to drive someplace to park to be able to ride your bike.

So there's not like a quick, at least, you know, there's not like it's IG five minutes away.

So this is um very exciting.

And I told Director Schneider I am meeting with the mayor and some of the trustees on Friday.

So I'm gonna keep this little piece of paper and thank you all again and your work and effort and trying to keep all of this um federally eligible.

I know um it made it um more challenging, a lot more challenging, but it was also um just also so responsible in trying to maximize our dollars and um bring federal monies back to Lake County.

So I thank all of you deeply.

Member Kasmin.

Thank you.

Um I'm very excited to see this project come forward um for a while.

My husband had his office in Deerfield, and we used to refer to this not affectionately as the afternoon parking lot.

Um I in addition, cars travel at a pretty high rate of speed.

And so when those stops do happen, it takes people by surprise.

So I'm not surprised that there are quite a few accidents that happen annually.

Um super excited to see the bike path, of course.

And just um thanks so much.

It's uh I'm sure it was a long time to develop, and um, I look forward to seeing it happening.

Thanks.

Member Wasig.

Thanks, Chair.

And Shane, I'm trying to get my head around the idea of the availability of federal funds.

Are these funds that are already obligated?

Are they in some pot that we can tap into?

Uh we just heard word in the legislative committee yesterday that um Congress is working on the surface transportation bill, which used to be called the highway bill.

So is this something where we're gonna have to ask for money in a 2027 federal budget, or is it from some other source?

So the 29 million dollars that we already have um are from grants we pursued through CMAP.

So like the C Mac fund congestion uh mitigation and air quality grant was one of the big ones, and then STP was uh another big one that we got.

Both of those are through um CMAP that we go after every year or every other year.

So we'll continue to use and there's a third one I'm just trying to blank on which one that was but those are the three primary grants we already have so with the next call with with CMAP we're gonna look to uh refresh those grant amounts so once we have a bid price we can go back and say here's our actual construction costs can we bring this cost up to 80% which is the maximum allowed um and in the past we've had success doing that no no guarantees but that's going to be what we're gonna try to accomplish to get it to 80% which is the maximum.

Okay so based on what you know about these funds is it would you consider it to be cash in hand or it sounds like you're asking for a little bit more and the 29 is cash in hand guaranteed.

We got that we got that that's blocked in all right then the the delta to make us whole on 80% unless we get low bids and maybe we're already there you know but if the bids come in at the estimate or above then we're gonna try to go after some more funds.

And those will be competitive grants through CMAP we'd have to go back to US D OT and say hey you know we got a project here and it it'd be through CMAP it would be the same C Map okay the same grants we have we would just show them the new costs and say is there an opportunity for us to true up all right in the past that's worked.

All right good to know thanks and so this total amount so everything's being paid here but then you might get reimbursements or grants so it could end up being like less correct less local less for our local share and hopefully our stakeholders public works and the two municipalities we would want to share in the past we've shared those federal funds to cover their costs as well so that's our intent until we actually get the bid prices and know the actual cost that everyone's going to pay for their items we're asking everyone to plan for the worst case scenario.

But and then what is the deadline to move forward I mean a deadline what is the time frame like our to move forward so we're scheduled for a federal letting in September of this year.

We have you know we don't see a reason we wouldn't hit that we've we've already secured all the land um so we have to submit our documents to IDOT about four months in advance or on track to do that um and then assuming we get a good bid back that we can award uh that'll be awarded um this fall advanced utility work would start over the winter and it's probably a a two to maybe three year project depending which month we actually get started so we could start hopefully next year yes that's the goal and then wrap up you know in yeah 29 ish be all finished yeah and do I do want to thank you everybody who worked and Vice Chair mean for all the work I mean I think do you start this in 2014?

I mean I what's one thing I've learned being on this board now all these years is projects like these they take a long time and so much work to get here and also the input and I think like you brought up it really shows I I just from what I heard about it when I wasn't on the board I think listening to concerns from the from Riverwoods from residents to be like what would be the best fit here and really coming up with a design that reflects the area that will lead to vast improvements and safety and people's well being not sitting there but also taking into account you know the needs and the requests of the residents it's it's a great project um all around so thank you and to everybody who worked on this.

All right well any questions more questions all right all in favor aye any opposed motion carries very exciting all right so item 8.12 is a joint resolution authorizing an agreement with DLZ Illinois Inc.

Chicago Illinois for the 2026 ITS Passage Field Elements Phase 2 design engineering services to expand and enhance the Lake County Passage intelligent transportation system infrastructure along various routes in Lake County at a maximum cost of 1334 dollars and appropriating 160500 of quarter percent sales tax for transportation funds motion by Hewitt second by Hunter.

So this is a design contract to upgrade some of the field elements for um our intelligent transportation system which is passage and good summary here for bullet one it just says you know we're adding fiber optic um splice enclosures conduit improvements we do in the winter months uh we get a little bit of water into some of our conduits and it freezes and that causes the fiber not to be able to send a signal so we're experimenting with different types of uh conduit to make um that weather resistant uh we're upgrading some of our legacy traffic uh detection cameras replacing some network switches and cameras and then on the map I know it's busy but in the the the green blocks we're adding a few additional um cameras that aren't aren't there today um the three kind of along the displains river are gonna help us monitor road conditions during flood events so that'll be a benefit to both DOT and um SMC.

We kind of have those polls at roundabouts and other locations where we want to monitor traffic.

That's it in a nutshell.

John Nelson's here if you want to get into any specifics on the project.

And we talked about this at our technology committee too.

We had nice discussion.

Any questions?

All right.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any pose?

Motion carries.

Item 8.13 is the presentation of the 2026-2031 Transportation Improvement Program.

All right.

We're excited to share the annual update to the five-year plan.

John's going to pass out a map, just so you can have at your desk with you.

It shows the location of all the projects that can be mapped.

And then page two is a list of all those projects.

So you can have that in front of you.

It's also an attachment to the agenda, so it's available to the public.

But I'll just start walking through here.

So agenda, you know, our goal is to present the plan today.

Then we'll be back in July for what for uh approval.

Uh talk about the fund sources that we have available over the next five years.

And then what we did this year is just broke down everything new in each of the categories so you can see what's been added to the program, and then a few project highlights of the bigger stuff.

Uh and if you have detailed questions on any particular project we have between now and the next meeting to answer any questions you might have if we don't know the answers today.

So the schedule, uh, we'll present it today, answer your questions, uh, come back on June 24th and June 25th to seek um adoption.

Uh, and then it would go to the full county board on July 7th for uh final adoption.

Why do we do this?

Good planning, but it's also state state law that we have to update the five-year plan every year.

Then we send it out to all the municipalities and townships in Lake County.

We have to file it officially with uh with IDOT, and then we have to maintain our long range plan, which you are aware that we're updating this year to envision 2050.

Um sources, uh, so as everyone knows, we've got five local revenue streams that support our capital projects, um, two our property tax base, that's county bridge tax and matching tax.

We've got the RTA sales tax with which is sales tax based, and then two user fee-based uh taxes, motor fuel tax, and county option motor fuel tax.

Um so every time we update the plan, we project the revenue over the the next five years so we know what we can afford to build.

And um, our assumptions haven't changed from past years.

Uh we we continue to assume that bridge and matching tax will remain um the same as they have.

County motor or county option motor fuel tax and state MFT are uh projected increase by about 1% annually.

And and then the RTA sales tax is expected to increase by around 2% annually, and we get those numbers from uh directly from the RTA.

So in total, it's roughly about 100 million dollars in available revenue.

That's um projected, and that's how we built the plan.

So the plan is fiscally constrained, so we're only putting the dollars in that we have projected over the next five years.

Um that means that there might be projects in there that are funded only through design, and but construction dollars aren't available yet.

Um so just to give you an idea of uh the level of projects that are currently in the program.

Um, you're gonna see on the next slide the total is about 950 million dollars uh in um in expenses for the program.

But if we wanted to take every project that's in there all the way through construction, we would need an additional $880 million.

So it's basically what we're saying is it's a 10-year program, and we've got about half the half the revenue in place in this five-year program.

One thing I wanted to point out about this, uh, we have got significant increases in revenue over the last five years through various means.

Um, but we are seeing some of that funding being eroded through inflation.

Um federal highway administration has announced nationwide they've seen about a 67% increase in transportation construction costs, you know, on average across the US over the last five years.

You know, kind of our rough calculations for Lake County DOT projects, we think it's been about 40 to 50% increase over the last five years.

So that is having an impact on our buying power when when you look at it through that lens.

Um total program, including carryover uh funds from previous fiscal years, about 950 million dollars in the program.

Uh, our biggest revenue source is the RTA sales tax, about 45% of the program.

Uh, then our second biggest revenue stream is the motor fuel tax, about 21%, and then county option, motor fuel taxes, uh 12%.

That's the third largest revenue source.

Um, and then you can see off to the side there, the state and local, those are uh like our partners that are helping uh cost share on on projects, or in the case of the state, they might be leading a particular project.

Um how are those funds being distributed?

As you might guess, our largest uh allocation goes to construction.

That that's the most expensive thing we do.

That's 71% of the program.

And then the second largest is engineering, about 16%, and then uh land acquisition is the is the third largest uh allocation, and that's to purchase additional ride-away or easements that we may need to complete a particular project.

Um, how does this work out per phase?

Uh, you know, we break our projects into three categories.

You can see the biggest chunk goes to modernization, about 48% of the program, 29% to preservation, 21% to expansion, and then 2% or about 22 million to debt service.

That's to pay off a bond uh that we took out about a decade ago that will be paid off completely in 2028.

Um that's about a seven and a half million dollar annual debt service payment.

Um talk a little bit about the type of projects we have.

We've got preservation, which is keeping everything in a good state of repair, modernization, how can we make it smarter using technology, our non-motorized facilities, um, and and safety accommodations, and then expansion is you know, how are we accommodating economic development and regional traffic?

So, right off the bat, when we build our new program every year, we throw in all the work that we do uh regardless.

This comes off the top.

This these are things that we do uh on an annual basis.

You can see it's it's a list of of a lot of the projects that we've been awarding here at committee over the last couple of months.

Specifically, what's new in preservation?

We've got the Kelsey Road rehabilitation over Flint Creek.

We've got the Lake Avenue Bridge rehab over the North South Channel.

We've got Deerfield Road over the North Branch of the Chicago River.

That's currently load restricted.

Uh, we've got North Avenue rehabilitation from Deep Lake Road to Nelson Road.

So that'll be a pavement rehab, and we'll look at non-motorized improvements.

Duffy Lane structural improvement at 94.

That's adding some embankment stabilization uh near the I-94 bridge.

And then something we added this year that we haven't had in the past is we're going to um attempt to remove some sections of buckthorn within our right-of-way.

We've programmed 150,000 for fiscal year 27.

Uh, we have an arborist on staff, one of our maintenance supervisors is an arborist.

He's he's has identified a few areas that have a lot of buckthorn.

We're gonna uh take them out and replant some natives and see how that works for us.

Um, and if it's successful and we get good feedback, then that might be something we look to continue in the future.

Glad to see that.

Um then you can see on the right, just one of the highlights, uh, almost 75 miles of new or renewed pavement in the preservation bucket.

Um, new in the modernization category.

Uh, we've got a new corridor improvement, which is Delaney Road from US 41 to Sunset, and then also a non-motorized improvement from sunset to Green Bay Road.

So it's kind of an L-shaped.

Um, so we'll look at pavement condition, non-motorized connectivity, and intersection safety as part of that one.

And we have two new shared use paths that we've added to the program, Cuba Road Path from US 12 to the Cuba Marsh.

That's a project we keep getting requests from from the village of Deer Park.

They're reaching out almost on an annual basis.

We're getting calls from the mayor and letters from various folks.

Um, so there's a lot of interest in that.

Uh so we'll we'll what we have in the program is a feasibility/slash preliminary engineering uh phase.

Uh same thing for Sand Lake Road to Stern School Road.

That's a corridor that we'll look at from a feasibility standpoint to see if we can add a bike path along that corridor.

That would tie in all of the connectivity that we've added recently in the Gurney area, and that we'll be continuing to add to at the roundabout at Hunt Club and Stearns.

Um, and we've heard a lot of requests to provide connections between Gurney and Linenhurst to the Millennium Trail.

So that path would provide that opportunity.

So this is the feasibility for that.

Um we'll look at if that's if that's possible.

Um traffic signals, traffic signal modernization.

We're looking at various locations, snowproof visors.

So we did like a major retrofit a few years ago to add those visors.

Um it was federally funded.

That's been very successful.

So now we're not seeing the red lights being snow covered during certain storm events.

Um so there's a few other locations we'd like to add that to.

And then the last three, these aren't new projects, but we've just put more funding towards them so we can uh get them to construction.

So Lewis Avenue reconstruction and road diet.

We've put another 29 million dollars towards that, and that's now fully funded through construction in the program.

Uh Cedar Lake Road, we recently did a Pell on that from Illinois 120 to 60.

So we've put it an additional 10 million dollars towards that for the first phase of work, and then Lewis Avenue from Sunset Avenue to 173.

We've allocated another $7 million towards.

And then the highlight there, 119 million dollars of new active transportation.

So that's new sidewalk and new bike path added to the program, 119 miles.

This is 119 miles that are just added to that like for these projects.

Not so not that was already in there.

That's total.

That's total in the program.

Over the five years.

Yes.

Okay.

I know it's like that's a lot to add.

It's like two projects.

I was like, wow.

Really long roads.

Okay.

So this is the overall, that's the highlight.

Yeah, and there's a there's a slide coming up that kind of breaks it down.

Okay.

Umernization.

Oops, sorry.

Sure.

Theater lake uh project.

Yes.

Will that include multi-use path of study or adding it?

Yes, the Pell did include looking at the corridor for uh active transportation.

So sidewalk and bike path.

That's included in the that was included in the Pell.

And this is uh a project that will be done when approximately.

I'll have to get back to you on that as far as the exact dates.

Um we did break it into I think three construction stages.

Um, so this would be for the first one of those stages.

And we we haven't started engineering yet, so that'll the the money will go towards engineering.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah, and then we can let I can let you know the time frame for that one.

Yep.

I'm sorry, oh John got the answer already.

2030 is construction.

Okay, 2030 is construction.

Okay.

Okay, then if I can go to the next slide.

Um, expansion.

So these aren't new projects, uh, but additional funding towards projects that are already in the program.

So old McHenry crossing, uh, segment one and two.

So that's the main uh portion of the road that goes underneath that will go underneath the railroad tracks, the CN.

Um, and then the second phase of construction is the Quinton Road piece that goes down to Illinois 22.

So we allocated another 10 million.

So that's not fully funded yet, but we're getting much closer.

Uh, then the Cedar Lake Road realignment.

We allocated an additional $5 million.

So that is fully funded for the downtown project in Round Lake.

And then we allocate an additional $1 million to pair transit because we have the new one year in the program 2020 31.

So we're still continuing to put in a $1 million per year for our local match on pair transit.

And then as a reminder, we're paying 25% of that service.

Federal grant covers 50%, pace pays 25%, and we pay 25%.

Um, so this is the map you have in front of you.

Um, in past years, we had three maps.

And this year, we tried to do just one map with the three different types.

So you can let us know your feedback.

Um, they are color-coded, and we have a different symbol for the type of project so you can see what they are.

And then on page two of that is a list, and the number in the left column ties to the number on the map.

So you can see where those are uh geographically, the program year.

If it's funded through construction, that would be the year we're planning to go out to bid.

Um, and then I'll show on a future slide.

There's a lot more detail available um online.

Um, which is this slide here.

So if you go to LCDOT.ecointeractive.com, that's our uh public facing um project tracker website.

Every one of our projects is in there.

You can put in the name or you can put in the project ID, and it'll bring up a table that tells you uh the schedule, project description, and all the funding associated with it.

And an example of of what you'll see is is this slide here.

So this is the Hutchins Road slash Sternstool School Road resurfacing project.

So you can see it shows that we're the lead agency, it's in design, even tells you who the design engineer is, what category it is, the letting date, that's the date it's targeted to go out to bid, what the total cost is.

There's a project description, then you can see by year what funding is allocated and what the source of that funding is.

So this is a pretty simple one with just one fund source and a couple years of programming.

But that's available for all, I think 286 projects in the tip.

Um getting back to that non-motorized topic.

So there's 153 million dollars dedicated to bike path and pedestrian accommodations in the five-year tip.

Then you can kind of see the breakdown there of what's new in on the blue uh graphs.

So 62 and a half miles of new path uh valued at 126 million, uh almost 29 miles of uh new paved shoulder and almost 29 miles of um new sidewalk.

Then the gray kind of shows what's already there, but that we're improving.

Uh so pretty significant investments in the non-motorized uh category.

Um this is still out there.

So a couple years back, we did create an interactive map that shows all of our existing paths, all of the planned paths that we want to build over the next plus or minus 20 years, and then everything that's in the five-year tip that's that we're actively working on.

Um so that has been updated and it's live on the website, it's current through this proposed tip.

So if there's a project in there that's purple, that means it's in the five-year tip and actively being worked on.

If you would click on that purple link, it would actually send you to project tracker, and you could see all the breakdown that I just explained.

So it's all tied together.

Um, so if you want a good overview, holistic understanding of what's being built, when, and where, that's a good resource.

Um, I mentioned this last week in our um department update.

Uh we haven't talked a ton about this recently, but we are actively in the background working on a feasibility and space needs study for uh a DOT facility replacement.

So we just last week sent more feedback over the architect, and I think within the next month or two, we'll have information to start sharing about uh what we've learned through that through that process.

But um, we we did use the opportunity to look at the building that houses all of our equipment and trucks as well as the administration.

Um, so they gave us like six or eight concepts.

We we threw one of those in there just for illustration.

It's not anything we're tied to.

And is this to be replacing the or is there like is it going to be in a different spot, or is this not decided yet?

So I mean it's not completely decided, but we have worked towards a phasing plan of how we could build it in place of the current one.

So that was kind of one of the complications is how could we actually construct this over the top of where we need to work on a daily basis?

So they've developed a phasing plan of how we could could do that.

So it could be in the same area.

Yes.

Um of the things we wanted to highlight this year, uh, we've been spending a lot of time on bridge rehab.

Um we've been replacing a lot of our precast pre-stress concrete deck beams.

That's just uh a particular type of bridge that we've seen failures in more recently.

So we've really focused in on those.

Um so you can see the list of projects there that have that specific type of bridge structure, and we're looking to do rehab on on each of those.

Um the Lewis Avenue project from uh Belvedere to 137.

We're working on a design that will be similar to what we did on 14th Street, which was renamed to Audrey Nixon Boulevard, where we took a four-lane section and converted it to a three-lane section.

Uh, we added non-motorized accommodations.

Um we think a good portion of the Lewis Avenue corridor will fit that model very well.

Um, and that's in design right now.

That'll provide a regional connections to non-motorized facilities uh along with a lot of other good um destinations you can see there.

Um, it is now fully funded in the five-year program all the way through construction.

Uh roundabouts are a big focus in the program.

Um so here's kind of an over overview of everything built to date and currently in the works.

So 11 locations are live in operation, three are under construction this year.

Three locations are in design.

Then another 17 are currently being evaluated to see if they would potentially be a good fit for roundabouts.

A lot of safety benefits associated with those.

But they do need to be evaluated because it's not necessarily a plug-and chug.

They don't work every single place.

But we are pursuing those.

So Hunt Club Road and Stern School Road.

So this will be our first multi-lane roundabout in Lee County, just uh northwest of Gurney Mills.

So this uh intersection carries about 30,000 vehicles a day.

We're gonna fill in non-motorized gaps to the east and then south uh down to Data Drive and Gurney, and then this is the project that I mentioned with that non-motorized facility going west all the way to downtown Linenhurst, where you could potentially tie up all these bike paths and be a really significant regional connection.

Um this one's in in design, and uh we're just starting land acquisition and targeting construction in the next couple of years.

Glad to see the flashing beacons for the pedestrian crossing there.

That'll be yes, so those are added because we're adding non-motorized facilities.

That's a recommended uh treatment by the Federal Highway Administration to add those uh for extra visibility.

So those will be part of our project.

And the signage, I know.

They have many some of these, I guess in Wisconsin when I drive in, because people tell me they're nervous about the multi-lane, but the signage makes it very clear.

I think it makes it even easier of where you're going.

So yeah, thanks for saying that.

We we did spend a lot of time on figuring out what kind of overhead signage we should add to help message to people what lane to get into and stay into.

And as long as you get in a lane and stay in that lane, you can go to any other leg and get out.

Um, so you should never have to change lanes inside the roundabout.

It's actually really, I mean, the signage is so clear.

I mean, it makes it, I think almost easier because you just follow you the appropriate lane.

Member Kasmin.

Thanks.

Um, I just want to thank you again for your uh extraordinary work, the the whole team um working with the neighborhood with me.

Um, I think we've made people more at ease with the design.

Um, as far as the signage is concerned, they did work so hard to make sure that the signage was not gigantic highway signage because the the neighborhood felt like that was a lot.

Um, and I think the result, because they thought all the way through, I think the result it's smaller, but it's far more clear than what initially was proposed.

So I think um there's just a another case where you know you work with the residents and you come up with something even better than you had before.

So I just really appreciate your time and patience.

Um, Julie and Kevin just can't thank you enough.

Yep.

Yeah, thanks for saying that.

It has been heavily um involved with the neighborhood, but we're happy to get their feedback and like you said, it's a it's a better project at the end.

Um, biggest project category is um these two-way center turn lane installations.

So, what we found um is taking a two-lane section and instead of converting it to a four or five-lane section, if you convert it to a three-lane, have that center turn lane for people to make their left turn movements.

It really adds a lot of capacity and it's a major safety improvement.

Um we we've identified several of these corridors, Deerfield Road, we just talked about that's exactly what we're doing there.

And then we've identified a few other corridors that are currently in design where we're using that model to widen the road a little bit, but not significantly.

And that gives us room in the right-of-way to still add the bike path and the sidewalk on both sides.

Vice chair.

Uh I would think it would also cut down costs and move things along because you have less in general, less land acquisition.

True.

And probably less less concern, cutting down fewer trees and stuff like that.

Absolutely.

Hopefully, it moves things along too.

Yes.

So Deerfield Road, we just talked about this one.

Uh, those are all the highlights, and um excited to get that one going.

Cedar Lake Road realignment.

We spent a little bit of time on this last week, but you know, major realignment of the roadway there.

You can see kind of coming on the arc.

Um, that's all new alignment, and then those open spaces on both sides of the road will be redeveloped into um the downtown business districts.

So Bilge Brown Lake is very excited about that.

And you can see some of the reconfiguration of the parking lot around the metro stations and and things like that.

But um, you know, $19 million raise grant, uh, $32 million in federal funding total for the project.

Um, and that is moving into land acquisition, as we talked about uh last week.

And then the last project highlight is the old McHenry crossing.

So um this is a corridor with 30,000 vehicles and 20 freight trains uh every day.

And when that train passes through, it takes about 30 minutes for all the traffic to kind of get back to normal patterns.

So um there's local fire protection districts in the area that really struggle with this crossings, they've been stuck responding um to an emergency waiting at the train.

Uh so it's extremely frustrating for them.

So it'll be a big safety improvement from that respect, as well as just congestion um mitigation and then non-motorized facilities down the entire corridor, bike path and sidewalk along Old McHenry Road and along Quinton Road all the way to 22.

So it's really going to tie the whole area together.

Um total total cost is around 150 million.

We've got a lot of local funds in the program now.

We're still about 40 million dollars short.

So once we get our final phase one approval from the federal highway administration, we're gonna start aggressively going after federal grants.

And kind of just in closing, you know, why are why are we doing this?

You know, it's not just asphalt and concrete.

We're really trying to make a positive difference in the way people move around uh the county, give them more options to travel um and make it a safer and more convenient uh commute.

All right, and happy to take any questions.

Thank you.

Shane, you'd reference uh you'd be back June 24th and 25th.

The first round of committees is going to be canceled in July 4th holiday.

So July 8th and July 9th will be when you'll be back.

Okay, thank you.

Yep.

Uh member Wasick.

Thank you, Chair.

And Shane, on the railroad theme, um you had two projects, item 87, uh Motorville, and also um Peterson Road.

I I'm I'm assuming those will involve CN tracks as well.

Correct.

They they both do.

So we are just wrapping up the feasibility study for both of those.

Then we have to do some outreach with the local communities to see if that's something we think we should pursue.

But we have just about wrapped up the feasibility study on those, but we haven't made a decision exactly what we should do yet.

Well, on the Peterson Road project, any rough estimates of what we're looking at there?

So if we did, if we did pursue it into design and construction, it'd probably be about 10 years out before we actually built it.

Um just because we know it's gonna be very complicated with the railroad.

Um, most likely the road is gonna have to go over the top of the railroad in that case.

Um, and there's significant underground facilities.

Um there, isn't there?

Yeah, there's a big big gas, keep big gas main there and some other pretty large facilities that travel in the railroad corridor.

Yeah.

Um, so yeah, that they spent a lot of time meeting with those uh utility owners in the feasibility study and figuring out what could and couldn't be relocated, and uh we we pretty much have to avoid that whole area or just be um the cost would would make the project unfeasible.

And I assume we've talked to the railroad as well already.

And we've had some initial conversations, but we we really need to get into those details in if we get into phase one design.

Okay, thank you.

Um I just wanted to um I'm oh I want to ask um the Stern School Road um bike path.

Um, what year is that scheduled for the feasibility study?

So feasibility, I believe is 2027.

Okay.

Someone can spot check me here.

I think uh 2027.

Oh, it's on there.

Yeah, obviously.

No, I just I woke up.

I'm very excited about the tip this morning, Swanda.

It's great presentation.

Thank you.

Thanks, Jeremy.

Yeah, lots of great stuff here.

It was um exciting to see that 16% of the budget is associated with the non-motorized.

Um that's really great.

Uh I would think that that would stand out compared places.

Um, I am excited about 59.

I rode that last Thursday down there that um along Lake Cook.

Um 102, you didn't put the little circle there missing.

Yeah.

Yeah, but I'm excited that's going to happen.

I'd really like the map here with everything on it.

Okay.

Um I'd like to offer a suggestion.

Please.

And that I'm going to anyway.

No, uh, and that is some of the I mean, you always have the complete street.

So you're always looking with any project.

Hey, can we make a sidewalk?

Could we do this?

Is it just uh a paved um shoulder which would improve things?

So that's always being looked at.

But a number of these in here are actually standalone bike paths, right?

Projects, and I don't know if there's a way just to kind of show on the map.

I know there's that other map, which just has the bike path, but to kind of see on here visually, as opposed to going, you know, trying to find out which one, I don't know, another color or shape or something like that that you could then see, hey, these are a number just looking at bike path.

It would kind of show more more easily what you're what you're doing.

Um we can we can look to do that.

Someone can have fun on the computer.

Um I wonder with um the increase in projects, and I know I keep bringing it up, but it'll be the last time.

Um especially with that um bond coming off.

Are you is it making sense at all to look at bonding some of these bigger projects so that we know that we've got money to get them done.

Yeah, and if I could add it, because that's exactly what I was gonna add.

You know, you talked about your construction costs, but construction costs have gone up on average between 40 and 67 in the last few years.

Is it a time to look at bonding?

Because you know, if we can, it seems like the sooner we do projects, the cheaper they are going to be.

And if we borrow money now and pay for it on today's prices, and we're I would assume we're gonna pay less than 40% interest.

Seems like we would come out way ahead by moving projects up.

I don't see the inflationary um economy, like I don't see that's gonna end anytime soon.

And so if we did, I was thinking that's my question.

It was about bonding, you know, could we you know maybe bond?

Would there be projects we could look at?

And I don't know what capacity we have.

It seems like we right now don't have much.

That's what I was thinking.

The OMX, yeah, yeah.

That's what I was thinking.

I was we think alike because that's what I was thinking.

I'm like, if you know, you said you needed, I wrote down 39 million.

If we bonded that 39 million, could we move ahead faster?

Still looking for federal grants and things, but moving the timeline up, it seems like with all these costs going up so much, it could help us get the projects done faster, but also save money in the long run.

Yeah, we we think that would be a good tool to investigate for sure.

We'd want to work with our finance team and and understand that.

Okay.

But OMX could be uh a great candidate for something like that.

Yeah, I I I would I I would recommend look, you know, looking at that.

Um these construct I I just remember when we were voting on these things five years ago, and and I mean, even I can see how much more expensive every contract is.

So the sooner we get these done, the better for our residents, but the better for the pocketbook, really.

So if you could let us know about the bonding, definitely member Wasick.

Thanks, Shane.

Uh and one more suggestion in the spirit of uh Vice Jermaine.

Um these maps are great, and I love them, and I I especially appreciate the fact that they're interactive, but I was wondering if you could break them down by district for us, okay, so that we could put it on our newsletters and say, okay, here's here's what's going on in our district, and here's the link to your eco interactive site, you know, like click on the like the dot and say, okay, this is what you know the center um street improvements gonna look like, or you know, especially you show me the image of the Cedar Lake Road project, which is mammoth.

I'd love to have that image too for my newsletter and say, hey, look, this is what they think is gonna look like, and that's really helpful.

It's really informative.

Okay.

We can look so there's a couple of things we can look at.

I've got a couple of ideas that we'll we'll start looking at.

I know in the past we have done like one pagers per district.

So um they can put some uh highlights together.

Um, but there may be a way in project tracker off to talk to our team that we could add a new layer that is a board district.

Yeah, and that could be filter, that could be a filter that is turned on.

Um potentially.

I'm kind of a dinosaur on this, but I think maps are still very informative.

Just like a PDF, you mean?

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, especially if they're interactive.

I mean, it's the next best step in visual communication.

It's really helpful.

And you can't get that uh phone, it's just like it's not big enough.

That's why I like paper maps.

Paper maps, yeah.

I'm like, I can see this.

All right, we will look into that.

I'm sure so much.

Yep, I'm sure that's something we can um accommodate.

All right.

Any other questions?

All right.

Yeah, thank you.

Um very much.

This is I said this is where always like a it's like a celebratory day when we come in and we know it's the plan.

It's very exciting seeing the new projects, but also seeing how you're working to move forward all the projects on our account.

I mean, was it 900 million dollars?

Nine fifty.

I forgot to write that down.

Yeah.

Yeah, with the projects that are really improvements for our county and um make our live residents' lives better.

So thank you so much for you and your staff and everyone who worked on this.

Thank you all for the support.

Thank you.

Our next so we do not have uh we have one week of canceled meetings for fourth of July.

So our next meeting is going to be July eighth, twenty twenty six.

We will see you all then.