FEBRUARY 10, 2011

LAKE COUNTY ROAD UPDATE

Seal

Lake County News

From

Craig Taylor

Craig Taylor, Representative District 19

 
 
CraigTaylor
Craig Taylor, District 19 Representative (Click on picture)

IDOT is asking for your help in identifying State roadways that are still in need of snow removal/clean up (please keep their contact information for future reference). Everyone has been working hard this last week to recover from the blizzard. It's a daunting task and one that continues to be a challenge. From all indications Lake County did an outstanding job dealing with a very difficult situation. Please take a moment to view the video link below to see first hand how the County reacted to the blizzard in order to care for Lake County.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter.

Should you need to contact me, my contact information follows:
 
Home phone: 847-438-2961
Cell phone: 224-805-6027

or email:

I consider it an honor and privilege to serve you!

Please stay safe!
Thanks!

Lake County Board Member & Lake County Forest Preserve Commissioner
District 19 Representative
Hawthorn Woods, Kildeer, Lake Zurich, Long Grove
 
 

LAKE COUNTY BOARD EXPRESSES THANKS

 

Lake County Board Expresses

Appreciation to Storm Responders & Residents

The Lake County Board would like to express its sincere appreciation to everyone that worked throughout last week's blizzard, including Lake County employees, emergency responders, residents, and volunteers. Many agencies came together before the storm to plan, organize and begin response coordination in an effort to get ahead of the blizzard. Snow plow drivers, sheriff's deputies, Emergency Management staff, and others worked around the clock. Snow plow drivers aggressively and tirelessly cleared snow so that other emergency responders could get to stranded motorists.

   

The Lake County Division of Transportation reports that more than 60 people (plow operators, mechanics, equipment operators)  worked 12 hour shifts. They used all the plows in its fleet and heavy duty equipment, including road graders and front end loaders, as they tried to clear the roads.

  

Lake County Board Chairman David Stolman said, "The Blizzard of 2011 will be remembered forever, and the hours of hard work put in by County employees and responders from across this county will not be forgotten. Thank you very much for your commitment!"  

 

From Lake County, employees of the Sheriff's Office, Public Works, the Division of Transportation, Facilities Operations, Information Technology, Communications, the Emergency Management Agency, the Health Department, and Winchester House contributed to the emergency response efforts. Volunteer groups, including reserve deputies with the sheriff's office and Lake County's volunteer amateur radio operators (RACES) also helped with storm response activities.  

 

Also, neighbors helped neighbors to make sure they were safe, and assisted in shoveling tremendous amounts of snow.  

 

Watch this video to hear more about the response, including a first hand account from a plow operator and pictures of the storm clean up efforts. 

 

 


  
 

ILLINOIS STATE HIGHWAYS

Continue to Expect Delays on State Highways
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is continuing to remove snow on state highways from last week's blizzard that may result in unusual delays for motorists.  Heavy amounts of snow resulted in some state roads being reduced from four lanes to two lanes, and two lanes down to one lane. State roads are those  marked as "Illinois" routes, and also roads marked as "US" routes, such as Illinois Route 41, Illinois Route 21, US Route 45, Route 22, Route 12 and Illinois Route 83. These roads are maintained by IDOT and are the most heavily used roads in the county. IDOT is seeking your input on where to target its final snow removal efforts.
  
Visit IDOT's website at  http://www.dot.il.gov/contact.html to submit a question or comment.  You can also call 847.705.4000, or 847.705.4110.

Know Your Roads
Numerous government agencies construct, maintain and repair roads in Lake County. If you have questions or concerns about a particular roadway, you must contact the appropriate agency. For a guide to roadways in Lake County, including examples of signs to help identify different roads, visit this website: http://www.lakecountyil.gov/Transportation/CountyHighway/Default.htm.  
 

PASSAGE APP FOR I-PHONE

 

PassageLogoLake County PASSAGE Launches New I-Phone Application

Apple I-Phone users can now access real-time Lake County traffic information through the new Lake County PASSAGE app available free at the Apple App store. The new I-Phone app allows users to report incidents directly to PASSAGE and submit pictures, location, and description. It also has the ability for the device to detect the individual's current location. 


Like the existing web application, users can also get real-time congestion information, view a map of road conditions and events, including crashes, stalls, debris, and other roadway incidents, as well as camera images of major intersections. 


The I-Phone App is another feature of Lake County PASSAGE, which includes Lake County's email notification program whereby users can sign up for real-time traffic alerts for designated roadways. 


Lake County PASSAGE extremely useful during recent blizzard

Leading up to and following the storm (Feb. 1 - Feb. 4), DOT sent more than 34,000 email notifications. That is 4,500 more emails than DOT sent during the entire month of January. Also, the PASSAGE website had more than 20,000 hits during the week of the storm, compared to 6,651 the previous month.

  
 

BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE

 
Business Roundtable at Lake County Partners
  
RoundTableButtonLake County Board Chairman David Stolman, along with County Board member Aaron Lawlor, representatives from Lake County Partners, and other business leaders, joined U.S. Representative Bob Dold recently for a business roundtable to discuss jobs in Lake County. The discussion focused on job creation and expansion, and how to improve Lake County's business climate.
  
Click on the picture to watch video with interviews from roundtable discussion.
 
LAKE COUNTY FOREST PRESERVE LIVING WALL 
ArctectDrawing

North Shore Gas partners with Preservation Foundation to bring active Living Wall to Greenbelt Cultural Center

 

This year, North Shore Gas is delivering more than natural gas to the northern suburbs of Chicago. Through a generous donation, North Shore Gas has partnered with the Preservation Foundation and the Lake County Forest Preserve District to bring an active Living Wall to the District's Greenbelt Cultural Center (GCC) in North Chicago, the first such installation east of the Mississippi.

 

The GCC has experienced enormous success and growth in its first decade of operation. The public has been very supportive and positive about their experiences at the GCC, but increasingly are encountering constraints related to space and configuration. 

 

The Forest Preserves are expanding and improving the GCC through an 11,400-square-foot addition. The expansion will help improve educational programming, better accommodate multiple groups simultaneously, and enhance the use of energy efficient green technologies. The expansion has been carefully studied to be the most cost-effective and environmentally sensitive answer to the complex design issues that the Greenbelt site presents - offering flexibility while also providing for increased usability. It also offers an opportunity to use green technologies, the most prominent and visible of which will be the active Living Wall.


About the Living Wall

To be named in recognition of North Shore Gas' gift, the active Living Wall is the signature element of the Greenbelt Cultural Center's expansion project. An active living wall does more than provide oxygen to the air - it is integrated into a building's HVAC system to reduce the amount of outside air required in the building, the tempering of which is one of the largest energy burdens. Air is drawn through a carefully structured plant system, which exposes the air to the roots of the plants. Microbes on the plant roots trap and ingest air pollutants, essentially creating a "vertical wetland" that cleans, rather than just filters, the air.   

 

For additional information about the Greenbelt Cultural Center or the Lake County Forest Preserves, visit www.LCFPD.org or call 847-367-6640.          

 

LAKE COUNTY FOREST PRESERVE PROGRAMS

 

Summer Camp Registrations

         Summer camp registration is now underway.

         Complete listing of camps is available at www.LCFPD.org

         Early Bird discounted registrations available until February 15.

         Scholarships are available in case of financial hardship.

 

Maple Syrup Hikes

         First three weekend afternoons in March at Ryerson Woods - make your reservation now.

         Special times set aside for scouts and other organized groups.

 

Paleoart Exhibition at Discovery Museum

         Art and science bring prehistoric creatures to life.  Now through June 26.

 

Civil War Sesquicentennial

         The Museum is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with a series of programs and activities beginning in February:

o   Civil War High Tech Exhibition, on display until August 21, explores how technology helped win the war.

o   Civil War Sesquicentennial program on February 21 features Civil War presentations and activities.

o   Learn about Harriet Tubman and her involvement with the Underground Railroad on February 24.

o   Additional information can be found at www.LCFPD.org

 

 
 
AMERICAN LEGION EVENT 

St. Patrick's Day Fundraiser

Lake Zurich American Legion

March 12, 2011 

 

Lake Zurich Post #964 of The American Legion is having a St Patrick's Day fundraiser which consists of a Corned Beef Dinner and Entertainment on March 12, 2011. Tickets are $20.00 per person and includes the Dinner and entertainment. There will be a cash bar with green beer. Tickets have to be ordered in advance of the event and no later than March 5th. There will be no tickets sold on March 12th. There will be Chicken available for those who don't like Corned Beef but it has to be ordered by March 5th also. The reason for the advance sale is that the dinner will be catered and we need to know how much food to order.

StPats

 

TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION

 

QUICK LINKS FOR TRAVEL

 

Lake County Real Time Traffic 

 

Illinois DOT Travel Conditions

 

Gary-Chicago-Milwaukee Travel

 

PDA Travel Updates

 
QUICK LINKS

 
VIEW PAST ISSUES OF LAKE COUNTY NEWS

I have archived my newsletters for your convenience. To view archived Lake County News from Craig Taylor click here.

 
 
PLEASE JOIN MY MAILING LIST!