To buttress her support of approving the Phase II resolution to widen Randall Road and improve the Algonquin Road intersection, McHenry County Board member Anna May Miller passed out the poll to which she had referred at the Audit and Finance Committee meeting last week.
At the beginning of the robo-call, was this statement:
“We’d like to ask you a few questions regarding your thoughts on how traffic moves along Randall Road in the Lake in the Hillls/Algonquin area to better determine what (if anything) should be done to improve conditions in this area.”
Percentage participating in each precinct in the Randall Road poll.
Then there were six questions:
1- Do you feel that during rush hour and on weekends it takes too long to get through the Randall Road area in Lake in the Hills and Algonquin?
- Yes – 90.71%
- No – 9.29%
2- Do you shop elsewhere or take another route to avoid the traffic on Randall Road?
- Yes – 72.5%
- No -27.5%
3- If something is done to improve Randall Road do you support a short-term or a long-term improvement?
- Short-term – 27.32%
- Long-term – 72.68%
4- If something is done to improve Randall Road do you think it should be done now, 2-4 years from now or 5 or more years from now?
- Now – 68.34%
- 2-4 years from now – 24.96%
- 5 or more years from now – 6.7%
5- Would you be OK with using a different driveway or roadway to access your favorite businesses on Randall Road if it meant that you could travel Randall Road in a more predictable time frame?
- Yes – 82.96%
- No – 17.045
6- If something is done to improve Randall Road, should it have the same, more or fewer driveways than it does today or is access not a problem in your view?
- Same – 28.27%
- More – 19.37%
- Fewer – 24.18%
- No problem – 27.7%
I suspect that the “Poll” is bogus. When did she take the time to
conduct the “Poll?”
At what time of day was the “Poll” taken?
Was it a questionaire type
“Poll?” Was it a telephone survey? How many citizens were “Polled?”
What is the percentage of error ie. +/- ?
You see what I’m getting at?
In my opinion Mz.Miller’s “Poll” is not valid.
How can anyone shop elsewhere?? All the stores are on Randall.
Did she get overtime pay from the township to do this? How can one go to all the meetings required of a county board member and get everything done for the township job?? Overtime?
Where are questions relative to cost?
Last time I checked, the funding for the project was coming from tax dollars collected outside Grafton and Algonquin Townships!
If the Millers and Algonquin residents want a CFI, let the Millers and Algonquin residents pay for it.
I think a local sales tax increase should be levied – say about an increase of four more percent – that will solve the traffic problem.
Knowledge voter, well said.
What invariably happens when politicians try to fix traffic problems is that the fix exacerbates the condition they are trying to fix. More traffic results, to say nothing of the added pollutants and increasing maintenance costs to be picked up by the taxpayer. This Board has not done its homework, and a Board Member conducting a privately funded study for political feedback is over the top. Time to see new faces on this Board and remove any incumbents come March 18th.
Agree, Jon, “political planning” rarely solves a problem, and throws our tax $$money down the proverbial rathole.
Miller reflects tired old “polling”, posturing, in an attempt to justify waste.
“Agree, Jon, “political planning” rarely solves a problem,”
When have roads ever successfully been provided by “private planning,” “the free market,” or whatever euphemism you’d like to use to describe non-governmental alternatives?
I don’t believe non-governmental alternatives to planning have been suggested by anyone above.
The point is, politically inspired planning does not inspire cost-effective planning. Examples abound country-wide, from Alaska to Virginia.
See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/wasteful-charlottesville-highway-highlights-problem-with-bob-mcdonnells-road-plans/2013/06/15/bb41b078-d539-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story.html
Would the solution be a mini expressway with frontage roads and bridges, something like Palatine Road / Willow Road in Arlington Heights and Wheeling?
Percentages?!?! Really????
They tell almost no story!!!
Anyone who works with data who is also worth their salt will not only tell the percentages, but also the number of respondents.
That way people have a basis for the data!!
For example: in this area there may be 20,000 people.
If the survey gets 9 respondents who favor the CFI, out of 10 total respondents, one can claim that 90% favor the CFI.
You can say anything with the stats!!!
So be transparent and tell all the context of the data, not just the percentages.
Show some courage and put all the truth on display.
Some facts, some simple math, and some suggested poll questions:
The facts:
Cost of proposed “improvement”: $115 million
Number of households in McHenry County: 109,000 (source: Census Bureau)
Expected time savings per trip: 2 minutes
The math:
Cost of proposed “improvement” per family: more than $1,000 per household ($115 million divided by 109,000 families)
Suggested Poll Question Number 1: Would you vote for a County Board member who voted to spend $1,000 of YOUR tax dollars so your family could save two minutes per trip on Randall Road?
The facts:
Cost to add two lanes to an existing highway: $2-$3 million per mile in rural areas; $4-5 million in urban areas. (Source: American Road & Transportation Builders Association)
The math:
Cost per mile to “improve” Randall Road: $33 million dollars ($115 million divided by 3.5 miles)
Suggested Poll Question Number 2: Would you vote for a County Board member who voted to spend eight times the average to “improve” 3.5 miles of Randall Road?
In the way you bloggers are criticizing the chairwoman of McHenry County Board Transport Division Anna May Miller for the phone survey it is apparent to me that do not understand that the Transport board is reaching out to the citizenry to get input for this important project.
The board is actually interested in what you think about the current and future design of Randall road and its different traffic pattern. So rather than having the County engineers develop and designing a solution like in the old days this board is actually listening and seeking to your input.
Chair woman A.M. Miller, Vice-Chair P. Yensen, Mr. N. Chirikos, Mr. K. Koehler, Mr. N. Provenzano, Ms. S. Salgado and Ms. D. Evertsen all are listening to you concerns and do not make decisions in a vacuum.
I have been involved with an issue where a group of us disagreed about a road project and the board members listened and changed their intended design.
You will also be surprised to hear that during meetings at the Transport Division board time is allocated at each meeting to comments from you relating to current transport issues, so why don’t you show up and have some input rather than talk to other bloggers who really have no say in the matter.
Why then was the survey not created and backed by the full McHenry County Board Transport Division, if in fact the opinion of the “citizenry” was desired by all of the members?
Were all of the members advised by the chairwoman that such a phone survey would be conducted?
And who exactly was the source of the “privately funded” phone survey?
What if each of the members had decided it was in the interests of the “citizenry” to conduct their own surveys, worded as they each saw fit?
And why aren’t the complete contents, numbers and all, of the “private survey” being disclosed to the “citizenry”, if it was indeed meant for full discussion by the members.
Someone needs to conduct a “poll” to widen Rt. 14 between Cary and Fox River Grove. HINT