Stearns School Road Snafu: Emergency Repairs Underway After Pavement Collapse

By Sam Borcia, the Lake & McHenry County Scanner | May 10, 2021 11:04 am

Crews began construction on Friday on a two-stage repair of a failed culvert and pavement collapse on Stearns School Road in Gurnee, officials said.

The Lake County Division of Transportation said that Stearns School Road between Hutchins Road and Hunt Club Road in Warren Township, which is near Gurnee, was closed on March 25 after a culvert, which allows water to flow under a road, was found to be failing.

Soon after the road was closed in March, the pavement collapsed at the site of the failed culvert on Stearns School Road near Mill Creek Drive.

The Lake County Division of Transportation said they began research into the fastest and most effective way to acquire the materials, develop design plans, secure permits and stage necessary construction activities.

Stearn School Road detours. | Graphic by the Lake County Division of Transportation.

Officials said that typically the design, fabrication and construction would take a number of months to complete, but they are working to accelerate the schedule through a two-staged approach.

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That approach includes stage one, which is the emergency replacement of the failed culvert and pavement that began on Friday.

Stage two is the design and permitting for a new single-span bridge. This phase is expected to take between 12-16 months to complete and will begin in 2022.

Stage two will require a road closure again but will occur after the Illinois Tollway’s bridge project on Stearns School Road over Interstate 94 is complete.

Lake and McHenry County Scanner is a local breaking news website covering issues that matter such as shootings, stabbings, house fires, kidnappings, car accidents, and more around Lake County and McHenry County.