Illinois Route 120 - Future

Future

In recent years there has been much discussion on how to improve the east–west traffic flow throughout north-central Lake County. IL 120 enters Lake County from the west as a four lane highway and then downgrades to a two lane highway less than three miles east, just past IL 60 and later becomes a four lane divided highway west of Hunt Club Road. Since there is heavy traffic from nearby Interstate 94 to the east as well as traffic traveling to and from McHenry County in the west, it seems logical to address this gap which is not yet four lanes. The solution to this problem was agreed to be a 17 mile improvement from US-12 to US-41, including a 7 mile southern bypass in Grayslake. This has since become known as the "120 bypass".

This project is closely related to another long delayed Lake county transportation project; the IL 53 extension. The currently stalled project has been planned to extend the limited-access expressway, which carries IL 53 and terminates at Lake-Cook Road, north to connect to the 120 bypass, and then branch off toward U.S. Route 12 to the west and Interstate 94 to the east. If the project were ever built, it would seem necessary that the east–west 120 bypass would be built as a limited-access expressway to connect with the proposed north–south Illinois 53 extension which is also limited-access. The entire scope of this project; starting on Illinois 120 at Interstate 94, continuing west on the 120 bypass, and connecting with the Illinois 53 extension would provide a direct route for commuters in northern Lake County to gain access to the western and southwestern Chicago suburbs. Since there have been many delays over the decades on how to proceed with this extension, the 120 bypass project moved forward on its own as an independent project.

In 2006, a feasibility study got underway by a special corridor planning council which was composed of groups from nearby communities and local government officials and took public input. Initially, the main focus for the public was to provide feedback for the road character or type of road. The alternatives considered were: a four lane roundabout boulevard, four lane signalized boulevard, six lane signalized arterial, and six lane expressway. In December 2008, it was revealed that the four lane boulevard option was selected in an 11–2 vote over an expressway, however it still remained open whether or not roundabouts would be used in place of traffic signals at intersections. The cost of the project was estimated at $521 million. In May 2009, the preferred roadway alignment was selected.

On October 14, 2009, the Route 120 Corridor Planning Council Governance Board came to a consensus and approved a unified vision for the project which recommends that the bypass be built as a four lane arterial highway with limited-access. The next step is for the Illinois Department of Transportation to begin a Phase I Preliminary Engineering Study.