Wilmette locks in improvement plan for ‘not salvageable’ Hibbard Road

A troubled Wilmette road is “finally getting the overhaul that has been due for a long time.”

Wilmette trustees during their June 9 meeting directed village staff to advance the town’s Hibbard Road reconstruction project. The joint effort with Cook County will bring forward a series of improvements to a stretch of roadway on Hibbard from Old Glenview Road to Skokie Boulevard.

The project’s key goals are to improve the road’s deteriorated pavement and storm water drainage and add non-motorized facilities to Hibbard.

To complete those goals, the scope of the project will focus on roadway reconstruction, stormwater management solutions, sidewalk completion, bicycle facility improvements and water main improvements, according to village officials.

Jennifer Mitchell, director of preliminary design services at BLA, the civil engineering firm working with the village on the project, walked trustees through a detailed overview of the project on June 9.

Need for the project is based on the existing pavement being at the end of its lifecycle, Mitchell said, adding that “it is not salvageable.”

Additionally, the current stormwater management on the road is problematic, often leading to complaints of standing water after heavier rainfalls.

Currently, Hibbard Road is under the jurisdiction of the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways. Village officials collaborated closely with the county to obtain an Invest in Cook Grant, meaning the County is paying for 100% of the preliminary engineering phase of the project.

Officials said June 9 that a jurisdictional transfer from the county to Wilmette is anticipated upon completion of construction.

Hibbard Road is currently a 20-foot roadway in a 100-foot right-of-way, which Mitchell described as “very wide.”

The subject corridor is multimodal, serving not only motorists and pedestrians but also bicyclists via a share-the-road route, Mitchell noted.

Hibbard currently features two lanes of traffic and officials believe there is no need to widen the roadway for additional capacity, given it serves up to 2,500 vehicles per day right now.

Per Mitchell, the subject area of the project is generally regarded as safe by the Illinois Department of Transportation and has a low occurrence of crashes, but IDOT has identified three intersections along the corridor in its medium safety tier.

Those classifications were due to crashes involving bicycles as well as cars leaving the roadway and hitting fixed objects, Mitchell said.

In the works

The village started a study of Hibbard Road in 2024 during the first phase of the project. Project planners then subsequently developed four alternatives, which were presented to residents during an April 2025 meeting.

Planners seemingly landed on a preferred alternative in July of 2025 that included parking lanes on both sides of Hibbard Road and an 8-foot-wide sidepath on the east side of Hibbard Road from Old Glenview Road to Wilmette Avenue, where it crosses to the west side and continues to Skokie Boulevard.

But Wilmette’s Municipal Services Committee in April of this year reviewed the alternative and opted not to throw its support behind it following public comment and committee discussion, according to village documents.

Trustees then on June 9 reached a consensus to support an alternative that features dedicated on-street bike lanes and parking on one side of the roadway. This option would retain the sidewalk the way it is and also keep Hibbard and two travel lanes.

Village President Senta Plunkett described the alternative trustees ultimately supported as a “balance,” saying it provides functionality for drivers, bikers and a lane for parking.

“Probably not everybody gets what they want but I think they get a little of what they want,” she said. “I think it’s a balance. I’m excited that Hibbard Road is finally getting the overhaul that has been due for a long time.”

As related to stormwater management, the project aims to replace the existing stormwater pipe network to complement the village’s stormwater action plan, add curb and gutter systems to collect water and direct to the storm system, and add sustainable stormwater features in the parkway, such as rain and pollinator gardens, where feasible.

The current project timeline calls for the completion of preliminary engineering work to be done this year. Details design plans are expected to be completed next year through 2028 and construction — pending project readiness and funding availability — could begin in 2030.

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