About the Project

The CN Railway acquired the EJ&E Railway in 2008 to serve as a bypass around Chicago. As a result, the volume and length of freight trains on the rail line have increased significantly. The rail line crosses three important arterial routes at grade within the Village, and traffic studies show considerable impacts to vehicular mobility and emergency response times, especially during peak commuter hours. To mitigate impacts, the Village secured a federal TIGER-II Planning Grant to analyze alternatives for a grade separation at the U.S. Route 14 at-grade crossing, where nearly 30,000 vehicles per day cross the tracks. With extensive public outreach and coordination between the Federal Highway Administration, IDOT and the Village, a highway underpass was selected and approved as the preferred alternative in 2014.

The project creates an underpass with a grade separation at US Route 14 under the CN railroad in Barrington. To accomplish this, a tributary of Flint Creek that runs parallel to the tracks will be relocated. The creek relocation will include two new box culverts to be installed across US Route 14 and IL Route 59. A temporary 4-lane runaround road will be constructed to carry US Route 14 traffic during construction. Lake Zurich Road will be lowered in place to intersect the lowered US Route 14.

The Village’s water main and sanitary and storm sewers will be relocated to accommodate the grade separation. Pedestrian facilities will be included on both sides of US Route 14 with a multi-use path connecting park district properties on either end of the project.  

Helpful Links:

Village of Barrington
Lake County Passage