Officials break ground on major reconstruction project for Touhy Avenue in Chicago's northwest suburbs

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and other officials broke ground Thursday on a $99.1 million roadway upgrade project along Touhy Avenue in Chicago's northwest suburbs.

The project will fully rebuild Touhy Avenue between Elmhurst and Mount Prospect roads in Elk Grove Village, unincorporated Elk Grove Township, and Des Plaines, and brushing against the northern edge of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The project will make for a major reduction in congestion on the busy roadway, which carries 32,000 vehicles a day, according to Preckwinkle's office.

The project will also involve the construction of a new bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad and the planned O'Hare West Bypass tollway (Interstate 490). Meanwhile, Old Higgins Road will be realigned east of Elmhurst Road to develop a new junction with Touhy Avenue, and the intersection of Touhy Avenue and Mount Prospect Road will also be realigned.

"The Touhy Avenue Multimodal Safety and Capacity Improvement Project will add capacity to a stretch of road that carries 32,000 vehicles a day — a volume that already concedes its design capacity," Preckwinkle said. "Yet this is much more than a road project."

Preckwinkle said the project will enhance national freight railroad operations with the planned grade separation at one of the busiest Union Pacific rail crossings in the region, and will improve air travel and shipping with better access to O'Hare.

Also part of the project are a new shared-use path that will expand bicycle and pedestrian access, and better lighting and drainage systems. Sidewalks, transit signal priorities, and bus shelters will also be added.

Preckwinkle said the project will also improve Pace Bus service Route 223, which makes more than 60 weekday trips.

Touhy Avenue is a major east-west Chicago thoroughfare running from Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood to Elk Grove Village — and linking Lincolnwood, Skokie, Niles, Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood, Park Ridge, and Des Plaines.

Its name honors real estate developer Patrick Leonard Touhy, an Irish immigrant and real estate developer who helped shape Rogers Park.

Work will also occur on Elmhurst Road between Lndmeier Road and Greenleaf Avenue, the county said.