Construction will begin this spring on a large roadway improvement project along Franklin Avenue and Green Street in Franklin Park.
The project will expand the roadway, which stretches from Runge Street in Franklin Park to York Road in Bensenville, as part of a ongoing toll road I-490/IL-390 project to connect to O’Hare International Airport.
That project is slated to cost $534 million and is intended to improve access to the west side of O’Hare, thereby improving the immediate surrounding areas, according to Illinois Tollway.
The Franklin Avenue/Green Street portion will widen to allow the industrial corridor to accommodate more traffic, offer more pedestrian amenities and help truck access into a nearby railyard. The scope of the project should aid commuters and residents as well as commercial freight trucks driving from the airport to the train depot.
“[Companies] will be able to use interstates for more of their trucks,” said Nathan Roseberry, assistant superintendent of the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways. “We’ll be going from a two-lane to a five-lane road on Franklin Street.”
With a new highway comes more demand on local surface routes. Due to the convergence of nearly all types of transportation hubs, updating the whole corridor is essential for shipping, officials said.
“The yard is directly adjacent to the airport, so you have air, rail and trucks all coexisting,” Roseberry said.
The project also will provide more traffic signals, bike and pedestrian lanes, landscape restoration, sewer repairs and curb upgrades for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The project is expected to cost $34.5 million with the money coming from Cook County, Bensenville, Franklin Park, the tollway and the federal government. The project kicks off in coming weeks and will wrap up in 2027, though most of the construction will be finished in 2026, officials said.
Drivers can expect some traffic delays during the work and Roseberry said residents can check progress on the county’s website.
“This one is a large enough project where we have a stand-alone page where we’ll have updates,” he said. The website can be found by searching Green Street and Franklin Avenue Improvement Project.
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
