Take a look at this letter from a business that had been thinking about locating in Lake in the Hills before the McHenry County Board pretty much decided to construct a Continuous Flow Intersection at Randall and Algonquin Roads:
Copies of the letter were sent to the four District 1 County Board members–Yvonne Barnes, Nick Chirokos, Anna May Miller and Robert Nowak.
Barnes was the only one who voted against proceeding with the Continuous Flow Intersection.
If the engineers’ worldview is a myopic one, then Edgemark’s worldview is a parochial one.
The developers who built those shopping centers and the tenants who filled them did so fully knowing that the day would come when their curb cuts would need to be closed.
Now that that day has arrived, they cry like little babies.
Yes, I agree, that shoppers can go elsewhere.
So can businesses.
In both cases that somewhere is often just down the street.
Those shopping centers could have been designed with alternative access plans knowing that those curb cuts would eventually go away.
Failing to do so is what economists call a malinvestment.
By not fixing the interchange, the rest of us would be forced to pay the price for their bad investments.
It’s bad enough my tax dollars bailed out the banks.
I don’t want to bail out the real estate speculators too.
I could not have stated it better. We have over 15 engineers 15!
Do we really need that many to sit around and dream up nightmares to foist on us taxpayers???
Stop the foolishness!
Thanks again Cal for this blog.
Clearly, the above letter by the real estate developer is a potent attack on the CFI proposal.
Further, is it known the number of alternate solutions could be dreamed of for the worsening traffic problem there? Successful development puts people to work and can provide endless opportunity.
I however know that the real political angel is movement in the job market with upward tendencies and social mederation.
I will keep a copy of Robey’s letter with my political memorabilia.
Not to worry.
The economy is so bad that all those businesses will soon be closed.
Okay then…let us drive a stake through the heart of LITH’s retail economic engine…last time I looked LITH is only the second largest community in McHenry County.
I am always suspect of things that are promoted by administrators and engineers who have nothing to lose by proposals like this.
I would guess the economic loss to the village found little input to the selection of this alternative in any cost benefit analysis…when the county has to spend millions on PR, you have to question the motives behind the plan…
Jeff, do you have a better solution to the Randall Road traffic problem?
Or are you one of those spineless politicians who’s willing to criticize the hard choices made by others without sticking his neck out with a proposal of his own?
I would have voted no.
Two weeks ago on the weekend before this vote I was knocking on doors in Grafton 14 and Algonquin 68.
Nobody wanted this.
Moreover, right now our economy is so weak right now that jobs are at a premium.
You do not want to go impacting businesses when its so hard for so many people just to find work.
Additionally, I do not agree with the growth projections that were sighted by the study and my opponent.
The projections of growth are completely absurd.
The kind of growth described in the study would not occur even during a modest economy.
Something we will not see for quite some time.
With property values falling and our taxes increasing – now is not the time to drop $115 million on 3.5 miles of road.
We need to make McHenry County “Open for Business”.
Respectfully,
Andrew Gasser
Candidate for County Board District 1
Well put, Mr. Gasser.
NO consideration of the impact of the Long Meadow bridge was made.
No consideration was made of the impact of the interchange in Huntley.
Additional lanes would be required for a CFI.
Why not add some turn lanes and then take another look at the impact before going full bore on a CFI?
And where is the next Amazon super warehouse being built?
Just north across the border in WI.
How much shopping is being diverted to the web?
Last time I checked, a car is not required to buy merchandise on the internet.
There is no other CFI in this country that was built in an intensive retail area.
The CFI creates more jobs for LIUNA members than a traditional intersection.
LIUNA is a large construction union (heavy equipment operators, etc.) whose PAC makes political contributions.
LIUNA is the laborers’ union.
The guys with shovels.
IUOE is the equipment operators union.
Not sure that this proposal equals more jobs than an add lanes project.
It’s the “new” thing.
Should maybe be tried on a smaller scale first.
Somebody at the highway department must have gone to a seminar!
It is easy to be captivated by the CFI dilemma.
If people will have a very difficult time getting out of that contraption and home then only a very foolish taxpaying citizen would really want a CFI at their main intersection.
Let us assume that CFI is not a 20 Million dollar hoax of some sort and one could be here, before even other road projects started long ago are finished, within one year or so then I conclude that it is another learning scenario indicating many things such as lack of community long term planning, continued softness in the eloquence and statesmanship in elected elites, politicking not for the common good and probably I could think of 17 more.
If it gets built then I hope that it works.
An animation of how CFI works.
Randall Road Improvements Study.
http://www.randallroad.info/info/downloads/cfi
A YouTube Video of how a Utah CFI works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVI3Ledw7mc