Northfield officials stunned by state's Willow Road widening plan

Willow Road is not a quaint or quiet residential street. It is an important east-west connecting street between two interstate expressways, and has been this way for decades. <p>
So anyone who bought a house on or near Willow in the last 30 years clearly knew this road could not remain a two lane road. Anyone smart enough to earn enough money to live in this area is smart enough to foresee this road becoming four lanes. <p>
I had an opportunity to purchase a nice house at a big discount on a street less busy than this, but could easily foresee that street getting busier and encroaching on my home. Sure enough that's what happened. I paid more money for less house to live in a neighborhood that wasn't on the precipice of change. Those in Northfield could have made the same choice, and so its hard to feel much sympathy for those who bought homes by Willow Rd thinking it would never change.

Shows the need for regional planning, and merging local governments. The whole problem here is that you have a bunch of warring cities that aren't on the same page. So typical of this state. You could parcel up all of northern Cook County into six or seven district councils and get rid of all the cities, mosquito abatement districts, park districts, school boards etc. Chances are you would end up with a more middle ground approach instead of extreme NIMBYs and extreme developers being able to totally control their own little patch of turf. You'd also cut out a lot of duplicative bureaucracy.

Mark wrote:

If safety is truly a concern, provide for a fence that separates people from traffic and provide pedestrian bridges where necessary.
Twenty years ago this bottleneck was an inconvenience, today its a horror. The 4 lane expansion is a must.

Pedestrian bridges have been considered and dismissed due to the amount of land required. However, an underpass is a possibility. Read the Lakota study to fully understand the options & process. http://www.thelakotagroup.com/willowroad/

You chose to live there wrote:

Willow Road is not a quaint or quiet residential street. It is an important east-west connecting street between two interstate expressways, and has been this way for decades. <p>
So anyone who bought a house on or near Willow in the last 30 years clearly knew this road could not remain a two lane road. Anyone smart enough to earn enough money to live in this area is smart enough to foresee this road becoming four lanes. <p>
I had an opportunity to purchase a nice house at a big discount on a street less busy than this, but could easily foresee that street getting busier and encroaching on my home. Sure enough that's what happened. I paid more money for less house to live in a neighborhood that wasn't on the precipice of change. Those in Northfield could have made the same choice, and so its hard to feel much sympathy for those who bought homes by Willow Rd thinking it would never change.

So we should ignore the safety of school children and build a massive highway that divides the residents of Northfield?

Does saving approximately one minute in travel times mean Northfield's community character needs to crushed?

If Glenview wants to be a new Schaumburg good luck, but Northfield shouldn't bear the brunt of that overdevelopment!

You chose to live there wrote:

Willow Road is not a quaint or quiet residential street. It is an important east-west connecting street between two interstate expressways, and has been this way for decades. <p>
So anyone who bought a house on or near Willow in the last 30 years clearly knew this road could not remain a two lane road. Anyone smart enough to earn enough money to live in this area is smart enough to foresee this road becoming four lanes. <p>
I had an opportunity to purchase a nice house at a big discount on a street less busy than this, but could easily foresee that street getting busier and encroaching on my home. Sure enough that's what happened. I paid more money for less house to live in a neighborhood that wasn't on the precipice of change. Those in Northfield could have made the same choice, and so its hard to feel much sympathy for those who bought homes by Willow Rd thinking it would never change.

I am so glad everyone who does not live here can see clearly what we should do. We do not want to be Gleview, Northbrook , Carol Stream, Franklin Park or Chicago.
I do not live on willow road but Look at Atlanta, they have continued to add lanes and now have 8 lanes of bumber-to- bumper backup. They keep adding more lanes and it just brings more traffic. Some of us are more thoughtful about our community. We want change just not thoughtless actions by politicians who do not care about us.. We want to close off cross streets making it more inconvenient for Northfield residents but better for traffic flow. We want to create turn lanes, cross walks with count-down timers, red light cameras and three lanes of capacity. We want to repair our bridges and develop our downtown. The height of arrogance is when citizens and Mayors are working on projects mandated by our elected officials and the results are annouced before the study is done with out informing our village president and members of the study group let alone our citizens.

Four lanes through Northfield!?

The children!
Dear God!
WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!?

Northbrook Resident wrote:

It's high time that they widened Willow Rd in Northfield. There is tons of space on either side of the road and I have always been irritated by the amount of time it takes to get to I-94 once you get past Sunset Ridge.
Enough pampering these filthy rich, NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) Northfielder's who very typically only care about the aesthetic vale of their own houses rather than the pain faced by their fellow citizens.

Ahhh yes - because we all know that the onramp to 94 has the capacity for twice as many cars during rushhous...

Maybe the reason the road is so backed up is because there is no more capacity to get 94 and cars are backed up at the at point....

As for Northfields wishes... Lets see, we have a small comunity mostly families with kids.
There are three baseball diamonds about 100 feet from willow rd. Clarkson park with an icerink, 100 feet from willow rd, Middlefork school about 500 feet from willow rd with hundreds of k-3 kids. Sunsent ridge school (4-8) about 250 feet from will rd. The northfield park dist fields with soccer/football fields again 100 ft from willow rd.

Basically, just about every child in northfield either crosses willow rd, plays by willow rd or both EVERY DAY. Thats where all the parks and public schools are.

All I can say is that I feel pretty comfortable saying that an entire town is going to be voting against someone come the next election. Hate the rich all you want, but dailey's democratic style of coming in the night and dictating what is going to happen against the wishes of the locals without due process does not work here.

DBX wrote:

Shows the need for regional planning, and merging local governments. The whole problem here is that you have a bunch of warring cities that aren't on the same page. So typical of this state. You could parcel up all of northern Cook County into six or seven district councils and get rid of all the cities, mosquito abatement districts, park districts, school boards etc. Chances are you would end up with a more middle ground approach instead of extreme NIMBYs and extreme developers being able to totally control their own little patch of turf. You'd also cut out a lot of duplicative bureaucracy.

Yes then we can have regional planning like crook county. Sarcasm intended. The more local the government the better for its citizens.

You chose to live there wrote:

Willow Road is not a quaint or quiet residential street. It is an important east-west connecting street between two interstate expressways, and has been this way for decades. <p>
So anyone who bought a house on or near Willow in the last 30 years clearly knew this road could not remain a two lane road. Anyone smart enough to earn enough money to live in this area is smart enough to foresee this road becoming four lanes. <p>
I had an opportunity to purchase a nice house at a big discount on a street less busy than this, but could easily foresee that street getting busier and encroaching on my home. Sure enough that's what happened. I paid more money for less house to live in a neighborhood that wasn't on the precipice of change. Those in Northfield could have made the same choice, and so its hard to feel much sympathy for those who bought homes by Willow Rd thinking it would never change.

Its not just the houses on the street- its that all parks, public schools, and a few churches are on willow rd. Basically every kid either plays withing 100 yards, or crosses to get to school, or both every day.

Do you really want to put in a 4 lane road next to all of your parks, public schools, etc?

Northbrook Resident wrote:

It's high time that they widened Willow Rd in Northfield. There is tons of space on either side of the road and I have always been irritated by the amount of time it takes to get to I-94 once you get past Sunset Ridge.
Enough pampering these filthy rich, NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) Northfielder's who very typically only care about the aesthetic vale of their own houses rather than the pain faced by their fellow citizens.

Gee, maybe tghe problem is too many cars on the road by people like you.

Shame on Jeff Schoenberg - he makes me embarrassed to be a Democrat. Back door deals announced without notice to or input from the community - that sounds to me like the Cheney energy task force. If Kohl's Museum supports this project over the safety of the very children it purports to serve and Crate & Barrel needs this deal so its corporate employees can get to work 5 minutes earlier, then I'll take my kids to the museum downtown and not shop at Crate & Barrel anymore. You think it is slow now? How about if we begin driving really slowly on Willow in Northfield? Folks moved into the area knowing there was a 2 lane road in Northfield. Deal with it.

What about the children is nothing but an end all catchall phrase used by smarmy politicians to tug at heartstrings.

"F" the children.

Make that damn road 3 lanes in each direction already.

John wrote:

<quoted text>
Ahhh yes - because we all know that the onramp to 94 has the capacity for twice as many cars during rushhous...
Maybe the reason the road is so backed up is because there is no more capacity to get 94 and cars are backed up at the at point....
As for Northfields wishes... Lets see, we have a small comunity mostly families with kids.
There are three baseball diamonds about 100 feet from willow rd. Clarkson park with an icerink, 100 feet from willow rd, Middlefork school about 500 feet from willow rd with hundreds of k-3 kids. Sunsent ridge school (4-8) about 250 feet from will rd. The northfield park dist fields with soccer/football fields again 100 ft from willow rd.
Basically, just about every child in northfield either crosses willow rd, plays by willow rd or both EVERY DAY. Thats where all the parks and public schools are.
All I can say is that I feel pretty comfortable saying that an entire town is going to be voting against someone come the next election. Hate the rich all you want, but dailey's democratic style of coming in the night and dictating what is going to happen against the wishes of the locals without due process does not work here.

John, well said. Unfortunately some of our elected officials do not care about safety. I am a concerned Northbrook resident and have been upset with the over development of the area by our state, county and local officials. Jeff Schoenberg represents a gerrymandered state senate district and it may be difficult to vote him out. But lets give it a try. In fact lets vote most of these clowns out that represent special interests (sometimes their own)and not the well being of the citizens and the community.

Thankfully they're finally going to make Willow Road four lanes. This is long overdue and Northfield is like Lincolnshire (who dragged their feet over Route 22 for years). Face the facts, more people mean busier roads and some have to be widened. Rt. 176 is next in Libertyville and Rt. 53 should be extended in Long Grove.

YEAH!!! I drive this road every day and it's a huge traffic clog. It should have been done years ago!

When we bought our house in Northfield, there was no Costco, no Target, no Whole Foods, Lowes, Home Depot and no "The Glen". We moved from out of state and our realtor told us about the great sense of community, the fabulous schools and parks, the proximity to the city (where we worked). We saw and still see Northfield as a wonderful place to raise our family. When we moved in just over 6 years ago, we were told that Willow Road was going to be improved and that there would be turn lanes and that some streets would be turned into cul-de-sacs. Never did it cross our minds that our children's safety would be compromised by a four lane highway. I have to travel Willow Road daily, as many of you do. There are days that it gets backed up. Most days, though, traffic moves along, though slowly. It does move, though, and it is a 1.2 mile stretch. I am seriously concerned -as a 2 lane roadway, some people race (only to have to stop), and I can only imagine the speed of traffic when 4 lanes are put in, not to mention the big trucks. Northfield is a small town. It is not big like Glenview or Northbrook. Though some of you seem to think we are all rich, I assure you, we are not. Yes, there are some rich people and they care just as much about their children and their community as you care about yours. The residents of Northfield are not trying to make your commute miserable, they are simply putting their children, and those of surrounding communities who use Northfield parks, first. We want them to feel safe riding their bikes or walking to school. Turn lanes , crosswalks, and sidewalks are all viable options. Our village board members and many concerned citizens have been working tirelessly on this issue for months, well, years. Jeff Schoenberg will not get my vote.

Has anyone who is arguing for 4 lanes here actually researched what effect it would have on traffic? Or is everyone just assuming that 4 lanes are better than 2, 6 lanes are better than 4, and so on? I have researched the issue. The trend in the country right now is to REDUCE 4 lane roads to 3 lane roads for a whole bunch of reasons. If Schoenberg had not torpedoed the 3 lane plan that all sides agreed to a few years ago, we'd have a pothole free, traffic-moving, safe 3 lane Willow Road right now. See for yourself. I suggest you google "road diet" to start. Northfield residents want a pothole free, expanded (3 lane) road as badly as you do. Politicians like Schoenberg have been holding up resurfacing and improving Willow Road for years so that the road would become more pathetic, so you would become more impatient, and then you would jump on the "4 lanes or bust" bandwagon. Think for yourself and realize what is going on. It could be you and your neighborhood next time.

TrainMan wrote:

Thankfully they're finally going to make Willow Road four lanes. This is long overdue and Northfield is like Lincolnshire (who dragged their feet over Route 22 for years). Face the facts, more people mean busier roads and some have to be widened. Rt. 176 is next in Libertyville and Rt. 53 should be extended in Long Grove.

Not so fast. Even if Schoenberg gets his way, which he won't if Northfield has any say, it will take 5 years to finish.

Four stars for State Senator Jeff Schoenberg and Illinois Dept. of Transportation! This is long overdue! Since moving to the area three years ago, I could not understand how one self-centered community could hold the entire area hostage. Northfield's very agressive policing of Willow Road just added insult to injury for the poeple trying to get through the bottleneck. Adding the cameras at two intersections along Willow Road recently just added more fuel to the fire.

Tom Kloempken wrote:

Four stars for State Senator Jeff Schoenberg and Illinois Dept. of Transportation! This is long overdue! Since moving to the area three years ago, I could not understand how one self-centered community could hold the entire area hostage. Northfield's very agressive policing of Willow Road just added insult to injury for the poeple trying to get through the bottleneck. Adding the cameras at two intersections along Willow Road recently just added more fuel to the fire.

Tom, You seem upset. Did you get a speeding ticket?