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IDOT to host hearing on 47th & East Avenue in La Grange
Updated: February 19, 2013 11:57AM
LA GRANGE — The Illinois Department of Transportation will host a meeting Jan. 31 on a study to improve the intersection of 47th Street and East Avenue.
Transportation officials plan to present an overview of the study process and gather public input in an open house format from 4 to 7 p.m. at the La Grange Village Hall, 53 S. La Grange Road.
Exhibits will be on display and an audio-visual presentation will be shown throughout the session.
The intersection is one of 12 crossroads targeted for improvement following the closure of Joliet Road between East Avenue and 55th Street in 1998. Pavement cracks were found over a fault line in a narrow ridge separating the north and south quarries mined by Vulcan Materials Co. in McCook.
A preliminary engineering study in 2011 examined whether a traffic light instead of a four-way stop sign would improve 47th Street and East Avenue, identified as one of six priority projects.
IDOT sued Vulcan Materials in 2001 and was paid $40 million in a 2010 settlement to fix road negatively impacted by the permanent closing. State transportation officials held hearings and conducted studies to set priorities for spending the money.
Other suggestions to improve the intersection have included separating the roadways from Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad tracks by building an underpass or bridge funded by a federal grant.
