Alongside Oak Lawn Community High School is the busy intersection of Southwest highway and 95th street, which is currently under construction. The Department of Public Works is replacing the water main system that lies below the street.
In order to install the water main system, the street itself must be dug up to get to the old piping. This has evidently resulted in lane blockages and traffic backups on Southwest Highway. Heightened traffic during school drop off and pick up hours makes the construction even more of a nightmare for parents, staff, and students. While the location of the construction is not ideal, the waterway of Oak Lawn’s water source will be brand new. This means Oak Lawn students and residents will benefit from the cleaner journey their water will be taking.
This intersection is just one of the areas included in the Village’s lengthy water main project. In September of 2022, the intersection right in front of St. Gerald’s school, Southwest Highway and Central Avenue, was worked on. The construction was concluded in late November. Considering this is only a few blocks away from the current construction point, this area eventually had to be dug into as well.
When asking assistant principal Marcus Wargin about the close proximity of the construction to OLCHS, he made it clear that the Village of Oak Lawn stayed in contact with the school before and during construction. The village did their best to avoid construction during end of school year events and lane blockages during the new school year.
In regards to the progress of the construction, Mr. Wargin has stated that “The goal was to always have the construction move across 95th street before the school year began, which they accomplished. Most recently the Village worked with us to get the cross walks at 95th street and Southwest Highway working again. They made it a priority to have the original stop lights working for the first day of school, which they accomplished”.
As a precaution, OLCHS has added more crossing guards to ensure the safety of students getting to and from school. Mr. Wargin acknowledges that as inconvenient as this project is, the communication and understanding of the Village of Oak Lawn has been a tremendous help. The tentative end date of construction is September 29, 2023. The Village is doing their best to keep the construction progressing in order to finish the project as soon as possible.
