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Lake County, residents address Aptakisic Road traffic
County officials and residents discuss ways to alleviate traffic issues on Aptakisic Road during the Lake County Division of Transportation's public meeting Nov. 28. | Ronnie Wachter~Sun-Times Media
Updated: December 7, 2012 7:40AM
BUFFALO GROVE — A wider Aptakisic Road handling more cars is the probable future for a street that serves several Buffalo Grove subdivisions between Long Grove and Lincolnshire.
Officials from the Lake County Division of Transportation, which maintains Aptakisic, are seeking input from area residents, asking what those neighbors would like to see when reconstructive work is done there.
The stretch of Aptakisic discussed during an open house at Twin Groves Middle School last week was the 1.2-mile section from Buffalo Grove Road west to its dead end at state Route 83.
Ostensibly, the county has a blank slate and no plans in mind yet, but meeting participants offered a vision for Aptakisic to someday be a four- or five-lane road.
“A two-lane road has a hard time handling 14,000 to 16,000 cars,” said Chuck Gleason, project manager for the county transportation division.
Figures from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning show that this section of Aptakisic currently moves 14,200 vehicles daily, with a projected workload increasing to 23,000 by 2040.
County officials made no mention of widening the road, and Gleason mentioned that those numbers do not warrant the construction of any new streetlights in the area.
That would be a disappointment for Phil Grunfeld, a resident of Buffalo Grove’s Bridlewood neighborhood who, like several other visitors to the open house, came to lobby for a signal at more subdivision entrances.
“It takes me less time to make a right and go to Milwaukee” than to find a break in morning traffic for a left turn to 83, Grunfeld said.
Regardless of traffic counts, Grunfeld suggested that the local population count warrants a new streetlight. He said he fears that the situation could lead to one of the area’s numerous children being hit by a car.
“I don’t want it to be my kid,” he said.
Gleason said another possibility for Aptakisic’s future could be finished sidewalks. The paved paths currently extend west from Buffalo Grove Road on both the north and south sides, but they stop at the village’s border with Long Grove.
Gleason also listened to other neighbors’ concerns about occasional on-street parking during Buddy Baseball games at Twin Creek Park and during the high holidays at Congregation B’nai Shalom. He responded that the county could not make property owners add to their lots.
Lake County also cannot force the utility companies to bury their lines underground. Even when the street is being dug up, he explained, the public would have to pay the extra costs to bury the cables, an expense that can be prohibitive.
But Gleason said transportation officials would continue to listen to more suggestions, and they are still taking comments on the Division of Transportation website, www.lakecountyil.gov/transportation.
“Everything’s open right now,” he said.
