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Community Corner

Road Crews' Cones Sprout in Kenilworth

Construction season arrives in force, with the village tackling 2 major resurfacing projects.

The saying goes: “There are two seasons in Chicago: winter and construction season.”

Kenilworth residents won’t be getting a break from Chicagoland’s seemingly marathon construction this summer. The village's 2011 street improvement program is expected to begin June 13 and focus on repairs to residential roads. 

The project will include a complete reconstruction of the 600 block of Ivy Court and the 200 block of Leicester Road.  

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“The Leicester Road project is one block long . . . access will be limited depending on the type of activity. Generally the objective would be to have the road accessible to the residents,” Village Manager Brad Burke said. 

“The Ivy Court project is a dead-end street behind the school, so it won’t affect many residents," he added. "However, access will be limited during each construction day.”

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The work includes removing and replacing the entire roadway, gutters, curbs and driveway entrances on each block. Weather permitting, the village expects the projects to be completed by mid-August.

Burke said access on each section of road will be limited. Nearby residents will experience some congestion from additional the traffic and parking from affected neighbors and construction crews.  

Also, bicyclists and pedestrians may be inconvenienced by the Ivy Court construction.

“Probably the most important part to focus on is how the Ivy Court construction will affect users of the Greenbay Road Trail,” Burke said. “Users should be cautioned when leaving and entering Kenilworth that they’ll be coming into a construction project.

"We’ll have the area signed, but it’s an important message to get out,” he added.

Kenilworth also plans to resurface Roger Avenue, Cummings Avenue, Warwick Road and Roslyn Road. The village is currently accepting bids for the project.

Yadelle Sklare of Kenilworth lives a block away from the planned resurfacing projects but isn’t concerned about the disturbance.

“I mainly use Sheridan to get in and out of Kenilworth, so I don’t think this will affect me much. When they redid Sheridan Road, though, it was horrible for traffic,” she said.

Burke said he hopes the resurfacing projects won’t interfere too much with the community.

“Ivy and Leicester are our priority streets. The rest is just maintenance so it’s going to be less intrusive,” the village manager said

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