Village Gets Green Light for Boughton Construction

Unless you’ve been driving an Army tank down the eastbound lanes of Boughton Road lately, you’ve likely noticed the massive—and increasingly distracting—bump that spans several blocks on Bolingbrook’s west side.

That lengthy bump, which village officials credit to an underground ComEd junction box, could be history as soon as 2012.

Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar said Bolingbrook has gotten the green light from the Will County Transportation Committee to begin planning a construction project that would ultimately redo the entire eastbound portion of Boughton Road from Sunshine Drive to Schmidt Road.

Claar said he hopes to have the project completed by the end of this year, or soon thereafter in 2012.

“Every winter, it has gotten progressively worse,” Claar said. “Anyone who has driven eastbound on the south lane (of Boughton Road) knows what a terrible road that is. I recently got an email from a resident complaining that we hadn’t painted that speed bump. Well, that’s not a speed bump.”

The “speed bump” is actually a product of Bolignbrook’s rapid expansion over the last decade, Claar said.

When retail giants such as , and began building on Bolingbrook’s west side, village officials quickly widened Boughton Raod to accommodate the spike in traffic.

But just a few years later, ComEd officials cut into the road to install a junction encasement that was required to provide enough power to the expanding west side of town.

That construction produced cracks in the road, which allowed water to seep in. When mixed with freezing temperatures each winter, that moisture froze and expanded, causing the land underneath Boughton Road to shift.

Logistics for the project have yet to be finalized, but Claar said he would lean towards shutting down eastbound lanes entirely and use the westbound lanes as a two-way street.

Claar said the cost of the project is unknown and the village will begin soliciting bids as soon as next month. The village will seek financial relief from ComEd as well, he said.