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If you live or travel regularly in southwest Orland Park, you know what a pain 104th Avenue is whenever it rains heavily. A low-lying section of the road just south of 159th Street floods regularly from an overflowing wetland. That might not have been of much concern when there was nothing along that stretch of 104th Avenue except cornfields, a pig farm and apple orchards. But the road's traffic volume has been increasing steadily over the past decade or so because of a housing boom south of 167th Street. Despite the past and future growth along the road, the flooding problem remains low on the Cook County Highway Department's priority list. Orland Park officials say they would be willing to pay engineering costs for flood relief if the county would push the project up its list. But for now, the county isn't inclined to take action. "We are aware of (the problems on 104th Avenue), but it's not a heavily traveled road. It's a matter of priority," county engineer Rodney Bettenhausen told the Daily Southtown. County traffic counts show that 4,500 cars a day use 104th Avenue between 159th and 167th streets. By way of comparison, 108th Avenue, a half mile to the west, has twice that much traffic, officials said. But traffic on 104th Avenue isn't going to get anything but busier. In addition to all the new houses, an industrial park is a bit south of the flood zone and 104th Avenue will eventually be the main access route to a new Catholic cemetery and a mosque. When heavy rain causes the wetland to overflow onto 104th Avenue, it can take days to recede. Drivers must take turns getting through the pool of water by staying in the center of the road. And the county has had to close the road five times this year because the water level was too high. The county's view is that drivers can use LaGrange Road or 108th Avenue to avoid the flooded road. But as development continues along 104th Avenue, that "solution" is increasingly inconvenient and undesirable. The long-term answer is likely to be installing a better drainage system and raising the roadbed, a project that will cost an estimated $500,000. That's a large chunk of money, but it's money that will have to be spent. And it needs to be spent soon rather than waiting until the cemetery and mosque are operating and more homes are built. This is an issue that Southland members of the county board need to take an interest in. Traffic in and near Orland Park is congested enough. We don't need a major north-south route to be periodically limited or unavailable.