Big portion of Sheridan Road work is ending — but there’s more where that came from

Traffic disruptions on North Shore’s signature lakeside roadway are expected to move on — but unfortunately for local motorists, not far — later this month, town officials said.

Rehabilitation work to a more than 100-year-old sewer pipe beneath Sheridan Road is preparing to enter a new phase and thus end the temporary one-lane set up near the Wilmette and Kenilworth border.

Local officials say that excavation work should be complete by Sept. 29, and in October, project contractor Inliner Solutions will begin work to a section of the sewer pipe in two areas: near Langdon Park in Wilmette and between Kenilworth and Winnetka avenues in Kenilworth.

Project scope

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, a regional government agency that manages storm and wastewater, is rehabbing an approximately 2 1/2-mile stretch of sewer pipe constructed in 1913 plagued with solid sewage, root intrusions, offset joints and concrete erosion, an overview of the project shows.

The length subject to be restored for “hydraulic and structural integrity” starts near Gillson Park in Wilmette and runs north to the intersection of Sheridan and Cherry Street in Winnetka. 

According to the MWRD, the work has required multiple phases, starting first with inspecting and cleaning the sewer line before excavating to install new pipes and restore existing ones. The project will then rehabilitate 26 manhole covers and install three new ones.

In Wilmette

Wilmette’s Village Engineer Dan Manis said Inliner Solutions, the contractor hired by the MWRD, began cleaning parts of the aging sewer pipe in Wilmette during the second half of 2024 and undertook access work to it between February and August this year. 

Traffic control measures were put in place during that time and have remained in place, disrupting traffic, while the Village of Wilmette currently has a separate ongoing project restoring crosswalks, Manis said. 

In October, Inliner Solutions will begin access work to a section of the sewer pipe located near Langdon Park in Wilmette. This work is anticipated to last two months; there are no other sections of the sewer in Wilmette that will require excavations or lane shifts, Manis said. 

That means the most substantial portion of the traffic disruptions to Sheridan Road in Wilmette caused by MWRD’s project should be complete by the end of November. The manhole-cover work is less intrusive and only requires daylong lane closures, Manis said. 

And Kenilworth

In Kenilworth, Public Works Superintendent Donny Leicht said the first section of the village’s sewer line that has required excavation and traffic controls — near the intersection of Sheridan Road and Abingdon — should be complete by Sept. 29. 

The one other section of the sewer line under Sheridan Road that requires access work and traffic controls in Kenilworth — from Kenilworth Avenue to Winnetka Avenue — should be complete by Christmas, Leicht said. 

Inliner Solutions began cleaning the sewer line in Kenilworth in April this year and began excavating in May, Leicht said.

Less disruption in Winnetka

In Winnetka, Director of Engineering Jim Bernahl said Inliner began cleaning the sewer line in July — near the intersections of Sheridan Road and Cherry Street, and Sheridan Road and Fuller Road — but have not yet excavated to begin any access work.

That cleaning work, which has required some traffic controls, is estimated to be completed by the end of November, Bernahl said. 

He added that Inliner has raised the possibility, through informal conversations, that the contractor might be able to complete its access work to the sewer line in Winnetka through the excavation pit dug near the intersection of Winnetka Avenue and Sheridan Road.

That could potentially allow the contractor to minimize further impact on traffic; though Bernahl said he is unaware of any further information about when access work might begin in Winnetka.

According to the MWRD, the overall project will require up to three years of work and should be complete by the end of 2026.

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