Meacham Road resurfacing may start next week in Schaumburg, Rolling Meadows
Work crews have put up construction signage in anticipation of starting prep work as soon as next week to resurface a milelong decrepit stretch of Meacham Road in Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg.
But the $755,906 Illinois Department of Transportation project pales in comparison with the $7 million reconstruction and widening Schaumburg officials have sought for years, and it's unclear now if or when that larger project will get done.
Weather permitting, crews will begin working on the shoulders of the two-lane rural road, stretching from Algonquin Road in Schaumburg to Emerson Avenue in Rolling Meadows, after the long weekend, officials said.
When the repaving of the pothole-ridden street eventually gets underway, there will be daily, intermittent lane closures. The project is scheduled for completion by July, according to IDOT's website.
The roadwork comes amid a lobbying effort by officials in Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows to get the state to delay the project, in hopes of a full-scale reconstruction and widening from two lanes to three.
Schaumburg has pushed for the extra lane since at least 2014, for the economic benefits it could provide.
Different Rolling Meadows elected officials have gone back-and-forth over the years about what the city's level of involvement in the project should be, but in April, four new aldermen said they were at least open to it.
However, they were still resistant to absorbing the responsibility — and associated costs — for long-term maintenance of the road.
The state, meanwhile, said a jurisdictional transfer has to be part of the deal.
At the same time, IDOT publicly advertised the resurfacing project and has now secured a contractor.
Whether the larger rebuild eventually gets done — including the addition of a middle turn lane, and installation of new storm sewers and curbs and gutters — is still to be determined.
“That's up to the state,” said Jo Ellen Charlton, Rolling Meadows' assistant director of public works.
She questioned the wisdom of spending money on a road resurfacing if it's going to be torn up for a larger reconstruction later.
“But it's exactly why Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg tried to have conversations with the state before that decision was made,” Charlton said.
IDOT and Schaumburg officials couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.