The Lake County (Ill.) Division of Transportation has been working with the Village of Deerfield and the City of Highland Park to reconstruct Deerfield Road in Deerfield and resurface Deerfield Road in Highland Park.
The project began last February and the roadwork in Deerfield is nearly complete.
Based on current schedules the construction will be completed in the spring of 2017, and reconstruction of the westbound lanes in Highland Park will be deferred to later in 2017.
“Due to unforeseen delays, the contractor cannot complete placement of asphalt this year,” Emmanuel Gomez, engineer for the City of Highland Park, told Daily North Shore. “The risk is that colder weather may result in the asphalt being placed out of specification which may affect its life expectancy. The safe call is to defer its placement until the spring of 2017 when we are assured that temperatures will not be an issue.”
There are advantages and disadvantages to both concrete and asphalt pavements and Gomez explained why the city prefers asphalt. Some of the advantages of asphalt include that it usually “provides for a quieter and some say a smoother ride,” he said. “It’s also easier to maintain as it ages, and it does not require a curing period like concrete. During the curing period, heavy loads such as cars and trucks should not be placed on concrete. The cure time may result in an extended construction period during which time the motoring public may be impacted.”
The work on Deerfield Road is a joint project with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Lake County, the Village of Deerfield (the lead agency) and the City of Highland Park.
