Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks as Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, second from right, gets ready to present $500,000 in federal funding for the improvement of Central Road near the redeveloping Bell Works Chicagoland in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday. | Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
By Eric Peterson | Daily Herald
Local officials on Tuesday attended Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi’s ceremonial presentation of $500,000 in federal funding he secured toward a planned $18.9 million improvement of Central Road serving Bell Works Chicagoland and other businesses in Hoffman Estates and South Barrington.
The 1.3-mile stretch between Barrington Road and Huntington Boulevard is full of bumps and patches. Developers say the condition is at odds with the massive private development nearby.
Not only has Bell Works found office and recreational tenants to nearly fill the initial eastern phase of its redevelopment of the former AT&T headquarters there, but manufacturers such as Bystronic, DMG Mori USA and NSK America Corporation have also made the area home.
“It’s almost a necessity,” Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Tricia O’Brien said of the planned road improvement. “They had to do it. To me, it looks like it was sort of inevitable.”
The project, which will break ground in 2025 and take two construction seasons to complete, will replace the current pavement with a 12-foot-wide through-lane in each direction divided by a 16-foot-wide mountable median. There also will be a new enclosed stormwater system.
“The Central Road project is a long-awaited improvement that businesses and residents will be very happy with,” Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said.
Read more here.
Related: “Bell Works Chicagoland in Hoffman Estates ready to add homes”