Chicago's Touhy Avenue project to include UP grade separation

Union Pacific Railroad and Cook County, Illinois, officials last week held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $99 million Touhy Avenue project, which will include a new bridge over UP track.

The county's largest ever transportation project will take place along Touhy Avenue and Mount Prospect Road in Elk Grove Village, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Township and Chicago, according to a Cook County press release. The project is regionally significant because it will fully reconstruct Touhy Avenue between Elmhurst Road and Mount Prospect Road, substantially reducing congestion for residents and businesses located near the corridor, county officials said.

This stretch of Touhy Avenue currently carries more than 32,000 vehicles per day; the new rail bridge will be built over UP track and and the planned Interstate 490 Tollway. The grade-separation portion of the project has been needed for some time, according to UP.

“Safety is the heart of everything we do, and this project puts it at the forefront by removing risks associated with at-grade crossings, while improving the efficiency of our rail network," said Liisa Lawson Stark, UP's vice president of public affairs.

The Touhy Avenue project will improve freight operations, support transit, modernize the transportation network and leverage the county’s local funding, county officials said. Cook County is leading construction for the project and has secured $41.5 million in Congestion Mitigation Air Quality federal competitive funding and $5 million from the Illinois Department of Transportation's 2024 Local Project Funding program, which combined provide funding for nearly half of the project costs.