Route 41 Rumble Strip Reconstruction Requires Overnight Lane Closures

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Overnight lane closures are scheduled to begin Monday on the northbound lanes of Route 41 in Highland Park to allow for the reconstruction of existing rumble strips.

At least one lane with remain open, but motorists should anticipate various lane closures between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. between Central Avenue and Deerfield Road to the Park Avenue exit, Illinois Department of Transportation officials announced.

The work is expected to take one to two weeks to complete, depending on the weather, according to IDOT.

Rumble strips consist of grooved patterns milled into the road. According to IDOT, the vibration they create makes them an effective safety tool to get drivers, especially distracted ones, to slow down or stop.

Drivers hit the Highland Park rumble strips as they approach the first traffic signal at the end of the Edens Expressway.

Since the rumble strips were last redone in 2019, residents living nearby have complained about the noise produced by tires rolling over them.

Pioneer Press reported an IDOT representative told a meeting of residents and local lawmakers last June that a site study by state transportation officials and the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana would not be complete for 30 months.

Last month, local opponents of the rumble strips said IDOT had agreed to replace 25-foot concrete strips with 15-foot asphalt strips that are about 20 percent smaller than the original proposal from state transportation officials. According to residents' Rumble Strip Committee, asphalt wears down quicker and produces less noise than concrete.

"Subsequent to replacing the concrete rumble strips with asphalt, I.D.O.T. has agreed to immediately conduct sound studies to ensure that there has been meaningful noise relief," committee representatives said inn update to the community. "Reducing the length of the rumble strips and the material, will hopefully bring us some long-overdue noise reduction. I.D.O.T. has agreed to revisit the noise issue if the resulting modifications do not prove to be an effective remedy."