The McHenry County Department of Transportation is seeking more public feed back on its plan to link Algonquin and Harmony Roads. I’m excited because driving through Huntley to get to Harmony Road to hook into the Tollway at Route 20 is a hassle even when there is no construction.

Extension Phase I Study

WOODSTOCK, IL – The McHenry County Division of Transportation (MCDOT) cordially invites all persons interested in the project to attend an Open House Public Meeting concerning the proposed improvement plan for the Algonquin Road Extension from Illinois Route 47 to Brier Hill Road.

The Public Open House will be held on:

When:             Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 – 4 to 7 p.m.

 Where:           Leggee Elementary School Cafeteria

                          13723 Harmony Road

                          Huntley, IL 60142

This Public Open House will provide the public with a project update and allow the opportunity to express suggestions, ideas and concerns as the McHenry County Division of Transportation moves forward with finalizing the proposed alignment of the Algonquin Road Extension over the Union Pacific railroad tracks.

The purpose of the project is to provide connectivity for east-west regional travel across the southern half of McHenry County.

The need for the project is based upon high travel times, low operating speeds, and crash frequency along the existing east-west corridor.

To address this purpose and need, two existing County arterials,

• Algonquin Road and
• Harmony Road,

will be realigned with roadway improvements that meet modern design standards. The proposed improvement will increase capacity, increase operating speeds, lower travel times, and improve safety.

The County’s web site offers this background information:

The Algonquin Road Extension Project began in 2001 as a Feasibility Study.

The Feasibility Study was used to establish alignment opportunities and possible constraints that existed within the corridor area.

As part of this study, we identified

• conservation district property,
• park land, sensitive environmental areas,
• residential and commercial land uses,
• wetlands and
• floodplains.

Once these issues were evaluated we were able to establish an alignment that minimized or in most cases avoided impacts to these items.

During the Feasibility Study, our project team conducted two Public Open Houses and one Public Hearing in order to give the public an opportunity to provide input into the project.

Comments and concerns were taken into account along with sound engineering principals.

The proposed alignment was then developed and presented in the final Feasibility Study completed on February 28, 2005.

Once the Feasibility Study was completed we began work on a Phase I Study in 2005. The Phase I study allowed us to take a closer look at the proposed alignment and to conduct more in-depth analysis.

After further investigations, including soil sampling, it was determined that there were areas of poor soils within the proposed Feasibility Study alignment and that the cost to mitigate these soils were high.

We then evaluated a possible adjustment in the alignment which allowed us to avoid this area.

Once we had made adjustments to the alignment, we presented our findings at a Public Open House in the spring of 2009.

Due to funding issues, this project has slowed down in its progression since the Public Meeting in spring of 2009.

During this time we have worked with the McHenry County Conservation District to further study environmentally sensitive locations within the Union Pacific Railroad and HUM Prairie corridor.

Based on the information provided and public comments from our last Public Meeting, we were able to adjust our alignment to avoid impact to these sensitive areas.

This revised alignment will be presented at the Public Open House on October 4th, 2011 and we invite you to provide us with your comments and concerns regarding this revised Algonquin Road alignment.

Additional information can be found on the project website at www.mchenrycountydot.org.