Shoppers at the Orland Park Costco should prepare for ongoing construction into next year. The store is expanding its gas station while also adding a roundabout to the exit. Work is progressing on the Amazon retail center located on the southwest corner of the busy 159th Street and LaGrange Road intersection. Additionally, the village’s Ravinia Avenue extension project will connect the retail center to Costco via the roundabout.

Orland Park engineering director, Khurshid Hoda, explained, “We thought if they are all happening at the same time—it is a larger inconvenience, but we will complete it sooner, rather than sequentially.” The Village Board approved Costco’s expansion plans in response to significant growth in membership and sales at the 9915 W. 159th St. store, which opened in 2006.

Hoda revealed that the gas station, initially planned with 40 pumps, is now being built with 32 pumps west of Ravinia Avenue. Although completion of the roundabout and most of the Ravinia Avenue extension to 161st Street is expected by the end of this year, the new gas station is not likely to open until next year. Once the new station is operational, the existing station will be demolished to create more parking space.

“I was informed by Costco that our store ranks second in the state for sales volume and might become first with the expanded gas station,” Hoda stated. The original plan used stop signs for traffic control, but the Village pushed for a roundabout, which Costco had to design and fund.

Costco is constructing a roundabout to better manage traffic toward the new gas station and 159th Street. Hoda said the roundabout is designed with wide lanes to accommodate 18-wheelers and emergency vehicles, enhancing traffic flow. A new lane on the store’s north side will guide traffic into the parking lot, and shoppers will exit through the roundabout.

The nearly 230,000-square-foot Amazon retail center will also be accessible via the roundabout following completion of the Ravinia Avenue extension. This extension might reroute up to 25% of traffic away from the 159th Street and LaGrange Road intersection.

“This site will likely be one of the first of its kind,” said Katie Jahnke Dale, representing Amazon, during a village meeting.

Plans for the Amazon retail development, spanning 229,000 square feet, are in progress. Amazon aims to offer a comprehensive shopping experience, allowing visitors to use their phones or in-store kiosks to locate items not on the sales floor. Customers can also order items for delivery to their vehicles.

Retail customers will enter via 159th Street, LaGrange Road, or 161st Street, while delivery drivers will have designated entry and parking areas on the property, south of the building. Of the property’s expanse, six acres are dedicated to open, landscaped areas, including a stormwater detention area. The store is scheduled to open late next year, Hoda mentioned.