Willow Road widening moving forward, state officials say

State leaders said Tuesday morning they are moving forward with plans to widen a 1-mile stretch of Willow Road despite some lingering concerns from officials in Northfield and Winnetka.

[mr comment]

People need to get over it, its one of the worst roads you can drive on between Waukegan and 94, full of land mine size holes and backups trying to get on or off the Edens. Its long overdue!

[Floyd]

I went to H.S. in Northfield back in the early 70's and grew up in the area. For as long as I can remember, that town (Northfield) has fought the widening of Willow road despite the fact that they developed the intersection of Willow and 43, and so on. You can't have it both ways.... if you want all the corporate (Kraft), residential, and retail money, you need a way for people to get through to I-94 and to the stores and things you let get built in the first place. Kudos to the state for eliminating this ridiculous situation. I think everyone who drives the area is sick of Northfied at this point.

[Peter]

This is a terrible idea. Widening the road will have absolutely no impact on the congestion caused by lack of foresight by the leader's of Glenview and Northbrook. This will only move the bottlenecks closer to the Edens and 294. IDOT's own studies show that at best this will save some drivers 85 seconds during some times but even that minimal savings of time will dissipate completely over time. Moreover, there are two schools, three parks and three churches on this stretch of road. The increase in danger to children will multiply exponentially. I hope Sen. Schoenberg is prepared to attend the funeral of the first child killed on "his" new road.

[Ted Greene]

Everyone should be clear on this situation. Northfield is STRONGLY in favor of widening Willow Road to 3 LANES and we were not happy when IDOT chose to delay the repaving of Willow Road for over one year. Our goal is to have a SAFE Willow Road. This is our Main Street, it runs directly through our community past 2 schools, 2 parks and 2 churches. Northfield strongly endorsed the 3 lane plan that was set to begin construction in 2005, but was subsequently cancelled by Senator Schoenberg and IDOT at the backing of our neighbors to the West (after the State had spent $500,000 in pre-engineering work). All the new retail west of Waukegan (particularly in The Glen) has been doing poorly and Glenview thinks that running a highway through Northfield can deliver customers to its stores and solve its problems. Unfortunately, Schoenberg has sided with the money at the expense of our children. It is too bad the other Communities feel entitled to place their priorities above the safety and concerns of Northfield. It is tragic that our State Senator feels no need to represent his constituents in Northfield.
DON'T BE MISINFORMED: NORTHFIELD WANTS A WIDER SAFER WILLOW ROAD!
Ted Greene
North Suburban Awareness Group (www.northsuburbanawarenessgro up.org)

[Brian]

Senator Schoenberg held a meeting in Northfield to issue this press release. He was flanked by government and business representatives from Northbrook and Glenview, but nobody from Northfield. Northfield was not invited and this proclamation affects only Northfield! The politicians ignored the community input from the (still uncompleted) Lakota study and proudly proclaimed that they will widen the road that separates nursery and elementary schools from the homes where the kids live, in a town that has no busing and kids walk and ride their bikes to school. What a crock. If that road gets widened to 4 lanes over Northfield's objection and any kid ever gets hurt trying to cross that road because these politicians wanted to be able to say that they saved the average driver 50 seconds on a trip, I hope the politicians pay for it. I sure will not forget this at the polls.

[Floyd]

I'm 53 years old and graduated from New Trier in 1973. I grew up in east Glenview. On weekends we played baseball at Sunset Ridge school. You can cry all you want about safety blah blah blah but that is NOT the issue. Since I got my drivers license in 1971, Willow road in Northfield has been a ridiculous bottleneck and it's 20x worse now. Northfield approved all of the developments within its city limits. Kids don't play in the road and maybe you as a parent will have to supervise your kids now. Schools everywhere are built on or near busy roads... this is nothing new. You all diddled around with this road for over 37 years that I can personally recall and came to NO conclusions... great work!

[John Breen]

Mr. Schoenberg, a non-resident of Northfield, speaks with forked tongue. In no way does he speak for the residents of the only community that has expressed safety and local rights. He speaks only for the deep pockets of current and potential contributors to his own political ambitions. He's a coward...and hides behind the greed of retailers.

[Dan]

Steve Schoenberg is trying to sell Willow Road to the highest bidders, Glenview & Northbrook. According to IDOT, safety is the foremost factor of any road development project, especially surrounding schools. Why is this factor being shoved to the sidelines??

Wake up people, Northfield is NOT against widening the road, but widening it in a manner that places safety first!! Retail revenue and commute time should be only secondary factors in the widening of Willow Road!!

[Floyd]

Read what I wrote. All of you that live in Northfield... basically a glorified bedroom community... have had 37 YEARS to figure this out and you never did. How much longer did you think you could hold the rest of the area hostage? This isn't about Schoenberg at all. A representative or Senator has to live somewhere and it isn't Northfield. Ok. He's looking out for the rest of his constituents because he's probably sick of you all too. Oh... I haven't heard of any recent pedestrian deaths along RT. 22 since Lincolnshire lost their similar ridiculous battle a few years ago, have you?

[Tom O]

Floyd wrote:

I went to H.S. in Northfield back in the early 70's and grew up in the area. For as long as I can remember, that town (Northfield) has fought the widening of Willow road despite the fact that they developed the intersection of Willow and 43, and so on. You can't have it both ways.... if you want all the corporate (Kraft), residential, and retail money, you need a way for people to get through to I-94 and to the stores and things you let get built in the first place. Kudos to the state for eliminating this ridiculous situation. I think everyone who drives the area is sick of Northfied at this point.

Floyd - we welcome our good corporate neighbor, Kraft foods. Northfield ends on the east side of Waukegan and Willow. the other side of the street belongs to Northbrook and Glenview who wish to take the sales tax money in and then ask the residents of Northfield be the Throughway to their towns. We do not receive it both ways but are being asked to have it everyone else's way.

[Jan Smith]

The context sensitive design process has not been completed. There are two more meetings to take place on May 1 and May 5 before the recommendations can be finalized. The Crate and Barrel chief lives in Winnetka and has no retail outlet on Willow Road. The Kohl Children's museum does not care about the safety of Children? Were these people really at the press conference? Our State Senator issues a press conference with no press and without coming to a single forum or talking to any residents of the town during the process. This press conference was a sham. None of the people from Northfield knew there would be a press conference. I attended the meetings at quite a bit of personal inconvenience to have input into the process. The report has not ben finalized as far as the lane configuration goes. About 90% of the attendees at the meetings for the Willow road process were in agreement that we should have two or three lanes and make other changes to improve trafic flow. Only a couple of people wanted four lanes. What are these people talking about?

[Jan Smith]

Floyd wrote:

Read what I wrote. All of you that live in Northfield... basically a glorified bedroom community... have had 37 YEARS to figure this out and you never did. How much longer did you think you could hold the rest of the area hostage? This isn't about Schoenberg at all. A representative or Senator has to live somewhere and it isn't Northfield. Ok. He's looking out for the rest of his constituents because he's probably sick of you all too. Oh... I haven't heard of any recent pedestrian deaths along RT. 22 since Lincolnshire lost their similar ridiculous battle a few years ago, have you?

Floyd,
You do not know what you are talking about. Northfield paid for the engineering and agreed to widen Willow road. The construction was supposed to take place last summer. Jeff Schoenberg single handedly stopped the funding of the road so he could do Glenview's bidding.This is all about Glenview bullying us to get their way.

[Jan Smith]

mr comment wrote:

People need to get over it, its one of the worst roads you can drive on between Waukegan and 94, full of land mine size holes and backups trying to get on or off the Edens. Its long overdue!

The people of Northfield agree. We agreed to widen it to three lands and close off many of our streets and prohibit left turns. Jeff Schoenberg pulled the funding for the road after all of the engineering was done. If he had not done this the road would be wider and brand new today. He is to blame along with the village of Glenview who felt they had to control our town as well as thier own. If Glenview wants super development why should our little residential town have to bear the brunt of it? Glenview is selfish.

[Jan Smith]

Floyd wrote:

I'm 53 years old and graduated from New Trier in 1973. I grew up in east Glenview. On weekends we played baseball at Sunset Ridge school. You can cry all you want about safety blah blah blah but that is NOT the issue. Since I got my drivers license in 1971, Willow road in Northfield has been a ridiculous bottleneck and it's 20x worse now. Northfield approved all of the developments within its city limits. Kids don't play in the road and maybe you as a parent will have to supervise your kids now. Schools everywhere are built on or near busy roads... this is nothing new. You all diddled around with this road for over 37 years that I can personally recall and came to NO conclusions... great work!

You may be 53 years old but you can still learn somethin if you care to listen. Read the rest of the posts. We agreed to widen the road in 1999.

[Jan]

Why not let the committee finish its work? Having a surprise press conference in the town of Northfield is dishonest. Glenview has invested in development. However they got land from the government for the Glen.and persuaded some of Northfield's best retail establisments to relocate. Next they told us they did not want to use the land for our post office. Now they want to intimidate the members of the study group with a preemptive press conference to ram four lanes down Northfield's throat. Nothrfield didn't complaing about the development of the Glen or the refusal to allow our post office on their precious free federal land but we do care about the main road inour own little town. Maybe we should have apress conference in Glenview to tell them how to be nice to thier neighbors. Jeff Schoenberg should be ashamed of himself for going along with this.

[Ted Greene]

If you are going to give an opinion, at least be informed. Northfield and IDOT did have an agreement in place to widen Willow Road. It was reached in 1999. Phase I & Phase II of the project were completed. Construction was set to begin in 2005. Schoenberg stopped the project and flushed $500,000 of tax payers money down the drain. Northfield stood by the Agreement. Right now we would all have a new WIDER Willow Road in place, except for Schoenberg.

Floyd wrote:

Read what I wrote. All of you that live in Northfield... basically a glorified bedroom community... have had 37 YEARS to figure this out and you never did. How much longer did you think you could hold the rest of the area hostage? This isn't about Schoenberg at all. A representative or Senator has to live somewhere and it isn't Northfield. Ok. He's looking out for the rest of his constituents because he's probably sick of you all too. Oh... I haven't heard of any recent pedestrian deaths along RT. 22 since Lincolnshire lost their similar ridiculous battle a few years ago, have you?

[Mike]

I'm hoping Schoenberg runs for Governor. It'd be a refreshing change to vote for someone who will act sensibly and decisively to protect the clear and obvious interests of the vast majority of his constituents. Safety concerns can be addressed with pedestrian bridges/tunnels, as they are along Lake Street in Glenview. This is one of the few roads with access to both the Tri-State and the Edens. It needs to be four lanes.

[Floyd]

The problem apparently was a 3 lane road wasn't the proper configuration given the whole situation. A 3 lane only helps left turn situations and doesn't move more cars or help right turn situations. I suspect there's some "sour grapes" going on that Northfield didn't get more like Glenview did. As I say, I started driving in 1971. It took until 1999 you say (28 years) for any agreement to be reached. That's ridiculous. And then it's for 3 lanes not 4 which apparently wasn't going to work so it was killed off. So now it'll be up to the police to keep writing tickets for 2mph over the limit like they do now. Yeah yeah... I know you hope I'll be the first one. But I won't because you have no good restaurants, no good bars, no entertainment, no reason to go to Northfield. Glenview on the other hand....

[Dan]

Floyd wrote:

The problem apparently was a 3 lane road wasn't the proper configuration given the whole situation. A 3 lane only helps left turn situations and doesn't move more cars or help right turn situations. I suspect there's some "sour grapes" going on that Northfield didn't get more like Glenview did. As I say, I started driving in 1971. It took until 1999 you say (28 years) for any agreement to be reached. That's ridiculous. And then it's for 3 lanes not 4 which apparently wasn't going to work so it was killed off. So now it'll be up to the police to keep writing tickets for 2mph over the limit like they do now. Yeah yeah... I know you hope I'll be the first one. But I won't because you have no good restaurants, no good bars, no entertainment, no reason to go to Northfield. Glenview on the other hand....

Congrats for Glenview!! Northfield has no desire to be like Glenview. We like be a small, charming town.

Building a 4 lane road through Northfield will save your restaurant patrons and shoppers less than 1 minute. That's it!! There are so many traffic lights west of Waukegan that traffic is choked up all the way to the Tollway not even considering Northfield stretch of road. So fix your own congestion issues and let Northfield design a road that meets all of our needs, not just Glenview's.

[Floyd]

Small, charming towns rely exclusively on homeowners (Read: taxes) to foot the bill for police, fire, roads, parks, etc. etc.. Good luck to you.