Meeting Summary and Briefs: Will County Public Works and Transportation Committee for March 3, 2026

Will County Public Works and Transportation Committee Meeting | March 3, 2026

The Will County Public Works and Transportation Committee met on Tuesday, March 3, advancing millions of dollars in infrastructure maintenance and expansion projects while aggressively defending resident privacy against state surveillance. The meeting was defined by a fierce bipartisan pushback against the Illinois State Police’s attempt to place automated license plate readers on county highways, leading to the item being completely removed from the agenda. On the legislative front, the committee pushed forward a $1.59 million bridge replacement in Green Garden Township, an annual guardrail maintenance contract, and roughly $1.5 million in right-of-way and construction agreements for Weber, Gougar, and Laraway Roads.

McEvilly Road Improvement Agreement Delayed: An amended intergovernmental agreement between the Village of Minooka, Grundy County, and Will County for the improvement of McEvilly Road from Ridge Road to Vista Court was removed from Tuesday’s agenda. Chair Jacqueline Traynere explained that the Village of Minooka recently discovered their federal funding for the project is not where they expected it to be, forcing the involved municipalities to renegotiate the terms of cost participation before moving forward.

Cedar Road Speed Studies Pending: Following up on a previous board request to lower the speed limit on the bending curves of Cedar Road, Director Ronaldson reported that his department is committed to performing speed studies to see if further reductions are warranted. However, Ronaldson noted that NiCor is currently performing utility work in the area, which is artificially skewing traffic flow. The department will wait until the utility work is completed to gather accurate field data for the analysis.

Phase II Consultant Program Coordinator Extended: The committee approved a one-year contract extension for HR Green, Inc. to serve as the Phase II Consultant Program Coordinator. The firm aids the county in the review of engineering design contracts. This marks the second and final one-year extension allowed under their original 2024 agreement. The total contract length is capped at 36 months.