McHenry County Blog

The Fleming Road improvements are moving right along.

Comments from McHenry County Transportation Department consultant TransSystems include

• IDOT will be installing a new signal at the Illinois Route120 intersection.

A stop light will be installed, even though there have been virtually no accidents and much less traffic on Fleming Road than on the Lakewood Street in front of my house.

The report reads,

“The intersection of Country Club Road and Fleming Road shall be studied in the preliminary design phase to determine the type of intersection control required. This contract does not include design of a roundabout.

“If, after the preliminary design studies, a roundabout is determined to be the preferred intersection control, the additional work effort to design the roundabout will be added to the contract through a contract supplement.”

No recommendation for a stop light or re-alignment improvements at Fleming and County Club, even though there have been lots of accidents.

Oh, a roundabout might be studied in the future, but turning the intersection into a safer “T” and installing a light doesn’t even reach the “maybe” status…at least unless one wants to read between the lines.

To encourage people to attend the upcoming August 24th meeting, the Fleming Road Alliance sent out the following email:

This is a reminder that the second Community Advisory Group Meeting for the Fleming Road project will be held Tuesday morning, August 24, 2010 at MCDOT offices, (yes, during working hours again) 16111 Nelson Rd., Woodstock.

Please attend if you can, to support your FRA representatives. You will be permitted to speak if you wish, during public comment at the end of the meeting.

MCDOT has posted on its web site www.flemingroad.info the materials for this meeting.

After you get through the agenda, list of members and tree survey reports, you will find interesting things like the crash report, shoulder width options, and design options for drainage control – slopes, swales, curb and gutter, retaining walls, and sight line distances.

Please take a look starting on page 74 of the attachment.

Hope to see you at the meeting!

–

Fleming Road Alliance Organizing Committee

Lisa Rhoades

Mary Moltman

Ed Bennett

Marti Jadd

Linda Ramsey

Stanley Jarosz

Phyllis Keinz

Kevin Keesee

From 4- 7 where McHenry County Board committees meet, residents came to see what the county wants to do to Fleming Road.

The initial reaction of many area residents is exemplified by the Post-It Note next to one portion of the aerial photo of the rural highway.

“Leave us along”

Others seemed to be willing to have the county repave the road, but definitely did not want any encroachment on their properties, some of which are quite close to the road.

Improve the base and drainage before re-surfacing said another note.

And, that is the problem that the road presents.  Look at this picture of an emergency repair that had to be made this past winter when a snowplow ripped up the four inches of asphalt.  There is no base underneath.  Just clay at this place in the road.

One woman wondered if it would become a shortcut for gravel trucks.  If the road gets improved enough, will such trucks have to be granted access? she asked.

“Bull Valley Road is worse than Fleming,” one person wrote.  What he or she probably does not realize about Bull Valley Road is that it is not a county highway.  It is maintained (and I use that word loosely for a road that is worse that the cobblestones of yore) by the Village of Bull Valley.

Three county board members—Transportation Committee Chair Anna May Miller, Tina Hill and Virginia Peschke—attended and I saw one candidate, John Jung, who told me some of his former constituents did not realize that he was no longer in office.

More than one message asked the road to be left in its present configuration.

Hidden motives were hinted at by one note.  Apparently elected officials at the county level have a credibility problem.

Stoplights were suggested at both the Route 120 and Country Club Road intersections of Fleming Road. A reconfiguration of the intersection to form a “T” at Country Club Road was also suggested.

More information in this earlier story.

There’s an Initial Public Meeting to consider reconstruction of Bull Valley’s Fleming Road tomorrow afternoon and early evening.

It will be held from 4-7 at the County Administrative Building in Conference Rooms A & B.

Here’ the county’s objective:

The goal of the project is to develop a preferred improvement plan for Fleming Road which replaces the deteriorated pavement, improves safety, limits disruption to property owners, and maintains the character of the corridor.

If you remember the uproar about spending millions on Alden Road (sometimes called the ‘Road to Nowhere”), you will have some idea of what the fight against upgrading Fleming Road will be like.

That was a ten mile stretch and, ignoring the cost of bridge replacement, its price tag was about $10 million.

Fleming Road, on the other hand, is only 2.5 miles long.

The traffic count north of Bull Valley road is 2,900 vehicles a day, while the southern leg is 2,600 per day.  (There are twice as many vehicles rolling past the Skinner homestead on Lake Avenue in Lakewood each day.)

I couldn’t get a cost estimate out of Design Engineer Walter R. Dittrich:

“We are going out before we’ve done an ounce of engineering.”

I asked Dittrich how bad Fleming Road is. He stated the obvious several different ways:

“This is the only road that is posted at six tons per axle.”

This winter when the road had problems, the crew found they were “trying to patch about 3-4 inches of asphalt on clay.”

“There’s nothing left to resurface. The pavement is beyond its useful life.”

Pretty much like a l of other roads through Bull Valley, but, in this case, road repair will be financed by county taxpayers, not Bull Valley taxpayers.

I remember driving up Fleming Road last summer and seeing a small compactor rolling asphalt into place.

Folks in Bull Valley want horrible roads.

They think the bumpy pothole filled potholes discourage people from uses their village to get from one side of the village to the other.

But, there’s this little problem.

This major north-south road is a county highway.

It goes from Route 120 east of Woodstock to Country Club Road.

Now the odds of people showing up who just use Fleming Road to get through Bull Valley are pretty poor.

Most of those who attend the Tuesday afternoon meeting will be residents of Fleming Road or other village residents who see this as a threat to their desired way of life in Bull Valley.

Here’s the letter that explains to residents what the county highway department wants to do:

To Whom It May Concern:

The McHenry County Division of Transportation (MCDOT) has contracted with TranSystems to perform an engineering study for Fleming Road from Country Club Road to Illinois Route 120 (see attached Location Map).

The purpose of this letter is to inform you, as a property owner or resident along the project limits, of the beginning of the engineering study process. The project goal, topographic survey subsurface geotechnical investigation, project schedule, public involvement, and communication are described as follows:

Project Goal

The goal of the project is to develop a preferred improvement plan which replaces deteriorated pavement, improves safety, limits disruption to property owners, and maintains the character of the corridor. This goal will be achieved by engaging with the project stakeholders which include residents, property owners, local officials, townships, police and fire departments throughout the project duration. Input from and discussions with project stakeholders will help shape the look of the improvement.

Topographic Survey and Subsurface Geotechnical Investigation

The engineering study process will begin with a topographic survey and subsurface geotechnical investigation to collect information used in the study. The topographic survey will identify right-of-way and property corners for use in the preliminary design process and gather physical features along the roadway. Please allow them to enter your lands while performing their required duties as consultants of the County. They are authorized to do this in accordance with Chapter 605, Act 5, Section 4-503 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (Illinois Highway Code) which reads as follows:

“For the purpose of making subsurface soil surveys, preliminary surveys and determinations of the amount and extent of such land, rights or other property required, the Department, or any county, by it’s officers, agents, or employees, after written notice to the known owners and occupants, if any, may enter upon the lands or waters of any persons, but subject to responsibility for all damages which shall be occasioned thereby.”

This survey crew will conduct their work in a manner intended to avoid property or crop damage, but any damages caused by their operations will be the responsibility of the County in accordance with the above statute. During this process, you will notice flags and wooden stakes being placed in the right-of-way and around your property. These items are used by the surveyors to mark their reference points and do not indicate where the limits of any improvements will necessarily be.

Also, trees along the corridor will be tagged for identification of the size, health, and species. The tree tags will not compromise the health of the trees, and if a tree is tagged it does not mean that it will necessarily be removed during the project.

During the subsurface geotechnical investigation, soil samples and pavement cores will be collected with drilling equipment. Samples will be tested to document the existing soil conditions and provide stability and drainage characteristics for supporting a new roadway. This work will be mostly limited to the roadway and shoulder area.

The topographic survey is anticipated to begin in the next few weeks (weather permitting) and the geotechnical investigation are anticipated to begin the next few months.

Project Schedule

The project is initiated with this introduction letter and is anticipated to be in study and design phases for 2010 and 2011 and the construction phase in late 2011 through 2012. The following are a few early estimated schedule milestones:

• January 2010 – Begin Topographic Survey
• January/February 2010 – Newsletter Update and Invitation to Initial Public Meeting
• February 2010 – Initial Public Meeting
• February/March 2010 – Begin Geotechnical Investigation
• March 2010 – Issue Resident Questionnaire

Public Involvement

The County’s intention is to regularly correspond with the project stakeholders, solicit suggestions, concerns, and ideas in the form of a resident questionnaire, and provide opportunities for discussions with the public during the study and design phases. Input from the stakeholders will be combined with design criteria and practices to arrive at a consensus for the preferred improvement.

Communication

The primary means to communicate information to the stakeholders will be through newsletters and a project website.

The first newsletter, anticipated to be mailed in January or February of 2010, will include information about the time and location of an initial Public Informational Meeting.

A website is currently being developed to provide the user the opportunity to keep informed and offer input on project related issues. Look for more information about the website in the first newsletter. If you know of an individual that desires to be added to the mailing list, please contact TranSystems, our project consultant, using the information below.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Mr. David Block, Project Manager with TranSystems at (847) 407-5313 / dwblock@transystems.com or myself at (815) 334-4980 / wrdittrich@co.mchenry.il.us.

Very truly yours,

Walter R. Dittrich, P.E.
Design Manager

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More information in this later article.

The Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission gave preliminary approval to Metra’s proposed Ridgefield Train Station, but conditioned it on making multi-million dollar road improvements recommended by city engineering firm Patrick Engineering.

The improvements, most overdue, according to Patrick engineers Ryan Westrom and Chris DeRosia, would include signals at Country Club and Hillside Road, plus Market and Ridgefield Road next to the Union Pacific railroad tracks. In addition, suggested improvements at McConnell Road and Country Club were requested. Finally, the motion asked that Metra make whatever improvements would be necessary for commuters to be able to get out of the parking lot on the 9,360 vehicle per day Country Club Road.

“If improvements are made, they will accommodate the traffic we projected,” Westrom told the commissioners.

The engineering firm, starting from scratch, projected that about 36% of the station’s commuters would come down Country Club Road from the north, 41% down Hillside Road and 22% from north of the site across the tracks through Downtown Ridgefield. Do the math and you see that 77% is predicted to come from the same side of the tracks where the 17.5 acre station will be located.

Members expressed frustration that none of the roads were under city jurisdiction. The engineering report said current traffic volumes merited signals on both ends of Market Street in Downtown Ridgefield.  And, one at Tartan Drive and Ridgefield Road by 2015.

Consensus was expressed that commissioners wanted to protect Ridgefield residents and business owners, although none are located within Crystal Lake city limits.

Motions to change the zoning from Estate Residential to Semi-Public and Public Use passed 5-0, as did a motion to approve how Metra proposed to meet the city’s Watershed Ordinance.

A motion from former City Councilman Dave Goss to approve a Preliminary Planned Unit Development, contingent on staff recommendations and road improvements suggested by Patrick Engineering passed 3-2.

Metra’s presentation suggested that property values around train stations generally increased with the prediction being that farmland north of the station site on Country Club Road would “have development pressure…(with) higher density development, higher land values.”

Goss voted against his own motion, based on his belief that the commuter station would lower property values in Ridgefield. He was joined by Commission Chairman Jeff Greenman.

Commissioners Don Batastini, Vince Esposito, Alan Skluzacek voted in the affirmative, although Esposito had said earlier, “I don’t think a train station that size needs to be out there.”

When the issue reaches city council on April 6th, a three-fifths approval vote will be needed, according to Metra’s local attorney Joe Gottemoller.

Earlier, Gottemoller had argued that the new traffic generated by Metra “is very small.” He noted that none of the improvements recommended by the traffic consulting firm, for example improving Market Street, were on McHenry County’s Five-Year Plan.

During the public comment period Chris Conway from Hillside road worried about increased garbage on the road and its taking more than the ten minutes it now takes her to get out of her driveway.

“We kind of feel there’s some insider trading going on on this property,” speaking for herself and neighbors.

The property is half owned by McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler.

Also speaking was Craig Steagall, land owner across the tracks from Koehler’s land.

He questioned the traffic experts traffic projections. Earlier he had hired his own traffic consultant and presented results to the city council.

“How did 84 Lumber get in there without making those improvements?” he asked.

Steagall also asked how the decades-old agriculture zoning for the former Flowerwood nursery property got changed to industrial through “a zoning map correction.” (Later Planning and Economic Development Director Michelle Rentzsch confirmed that what Stegall said was correct.)

“There’s been an allegation I’m on my high horse because of a sour land deal,” he continued, telling of how Metra approached him to buy 12 acres and how Alexandra Lumber was considering purchasing 20 acres prior to purchasing 84 Lumber’s abandoned yard. Steagall then pointed out that under the discussions he had had with Metra to buy land south of the tracks, he and his partner would have had to put in $500,000 to a million for infrastructure improvements, a cost burden he considered unreasonable.

Steagall compared Metra’s planned station to

• “Health Care—Start over,”
• “the Bridge to Nowhere” and
• “the Cornhusker Kickback.”

Speaking also of the Lily Pond Road station, which will be built on donated land, Stegall concluded,

“It’s Metra stations for all our friends.”

Another man asked if people, especially McHenry County College students and employees would have walking and biking access.

“Would it be good service to the college.”

No one from McHenry College offered public comment.

“What prevented Metra from putting the station on the south side of the tracks,” another person asked.

In rebuttal, a factoid came out that was interesting.

Over 60% of the people using the Pingree Road Station are from Lake in the Hills.

Replying to Steagall, Gottemoller said, “Sour grapes. That’s a political item that we don’t have anything to do with.”

Rick Mack, representing Metra, explained that 15 trains would come down the track each morning and that the Lily Pond Road Station (called East Woodstock) was put on the south side of the tracks so most cars using it wouldn’t have to cross the tracks.

He explained that capacity throughout McHenry County was being expanded, pointing to all the empty land between Woodstock and Harvard.

“This is an entire upgrade, not just to address today,” Mack continued. Earlier, it had been pointed out that train storage would be moved from Crystal Lake to north of Woodstock, that there was no room to store additional trains in Crystal Lake.

“All of these improvements are interconnected.”

Traffic concerns were widespread among the commissioners.

Greenman said,

Jeff Greenman

“We’re going to trust the county to do what it needs to do and trust the state to do what it needs to do.

“There are so many interdependencies, so many ‘what if’s’

“It’s a huge risk.”

At the end of the meeting, Goss thanked the city council “for standing up for the traffic study.”

Metra had asked to use its own traffic consultant, but that was rejected by the council in favor of one on the city’s approved list.

The man who has taken on Ken Koehler‘s sale of the old Flowerwood nursery property on County Club Road to Metra for a commuter rail passenger station–and I mean really taken him on–is calling for other county board members and candidates to complete the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water’s questionnaire.

The raising of eyebrows about the purchase stimulated Metra to issue this information.

Craig Steagal is not running against Koehler in District 2, however.  Steagall lives north of the Crystal Lake Avenue township boundary line in District 3.

So far, one candidate in District 2 and three candidates in District 3, one candidate in District 5 and two candidates in District 6 have filled out the forms with ALAW, the consideration of which was sent to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office for review last month when it was first considered at the committee level.

Here’s is Stegall’s press release:

STEAGALL ENDORSES MCHENRY COUNTY DISCLOSURE ORDINANCE
Completes Transparency Questionnaire, Challenges Other County Candidates and Officials to do the Same

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL — Craig Steagall, candidate for McHenry County Board in District 3, today endorsed the enactment of the proposed Economic Interest and Conflict of Interest Disclosure ordinance put forth by the Alliance for Land, Agriculture and Water (ALAW).

Steagall also completed ALAW’s Disclosure of Economic Interest questionnaire, which can be found online by clicking here.

“I have decided that the lack of trust in the motives of our elected government officials is a severe impediment to the compact between those in power and their constituents,” said Steagall.  “I endorse this disclosure ordinance, I have completed ALAW’s disclosure questionnaire, and I challenge all candidates and elected officials in McHenry County to do the same.

A lifelong resident of McHenry County, Craig Steagall is running for McHenry County Board in District 3.  The owner of Crystal Lake-based Woolf Distributing, Craig is a proud husband, father and grandfather.  He resides in Crystal Lake with his wife, Cathy, and will bring integrity, independence and sound financial management skills to the McHenry County Board.

The following are some observations on the traffic problems brought up by Metra’s proposal to purchase 17.3 acres on Country Club Road in Ridgefield for a new stop.

As a long-time resident of Crystal Lake, I am very familiar with the streets and intersections in question.

When I visit McHenry County College, I take Ridgefield Road to Tartan Drive, and have had many occasions to drive on Country Club and Hillside Roads.

It certainly would be nice to have a Metra station in Ridgefield.

There are a lot of people living between easy access to the downtown stations in Crystal Lake and Woodstock, and, with some paved walkways and ingenuity, students from the towns along the rail line could commute to MCC. It would be a good, green complement to the bicycle path from Oak Street to the College, currently under construction.

However, I am in complete agreement with Craig Steagall that locating the station on the north side of the tracks behind the 84/Alexander property would lead to a traffic fiasco.

The problem is that none of the roads in question, with the possible exception of Ridgefield Road, is the kind of artery that can handle the bursts of traffic following the arrival of a commuter train.

In recent years, I have observed a considerable increase in traffic, presumably to and from Bull Valley and the northeast part of Woodstock, taking Ridgefield Road to the rail crossing, then continuing on Country Club.

It appears that it can be a challenge even to make a right turn, toward Crystal Lake, out of Tartan Drive, let alone a left.

Because of the traffic coming from Woodstock headed for the Ridgefield rail crossing, I also have found it difficult to make a left turn off westbound Hillside onto Country Club.

In my opinion, the installation of a traffic light at the southern intersection of Rt. 14 and Ridgefield Rd. has facilitated this pattern. This would be especially true of southbound traffic, because before the light, it was risking one’s life to turn left from Ridgefield to 14.

I can’t imagine these already-overtaxed roads being able to handle the additional load of a Metra station.

I’m not even sure that siting the station in the “yellow circle” in Mr. Steagall’s diagram or elsewhere on the south side of the tracks would work.

In that case, yes, people could use both legs of Ridgefield Rd. to get to the station.

I presume there would be a traffic light at the northern junction of 14 and Ridgefield, by the Lutheran church. This would work fine for people coming from the southeast and west.

The problem of eastern access would remain, however.

There are a lot of people from Bull Valley and McHenry who would have to take the old, skinny Bull Valley roads and cross at the awkward Ridgefield crossing. Unless there is to be a terrific amount of restructuring of the eastern Ridgefield intersections (which, as Mr. Steagall has pointed out, would require tearing buildings down), I don’t see that problem going away.

But the south-side location would be better than the north-side one.

There’s a more fundamental issue here, though.

There is no way to get directly from northwest Crystal Lake to McHenry, as I have learned over many years. One can be excused for thinking its affluent residents want it to be hard to get through Bull Valley.

You can either go all the way over to Walkup or wind your way along roads like Cherry Valley and Bull Valley Roads, all posted with whimsically varying speed limits designed to generate speeding tickets. (They haven’t nailed me yet.)

The residents are inconvenienced too, of course, but so are the many people who might like to be able to drive to and from, say, MCC, to McHenry.

So it’s more than just a problem of the Metra station. To be sure, the station would make this a lot worse.

One last point:

A couple of years ago, I watched the sad unraveling of MCC’s Health, Wellness, Athletic Complex project, the one that was supposed to be financed through a minor league baseball team.

Putting aside the merits and demerits of that project for now, I find it curious that the two issues that killed it

• traffic and
• the Crystal Lake watershed

do not seem to have entered into this current discussion in any significant way.

Did those involved learn nothing from the attempt by the College to sneak something through without real planning and public scrutiny?

With the MCC experience in mind, I would be astounded if Crystal Lake cooperates with the north-of-the-tracks Metra station, unless the fix truly is in.

I hope that this issue stirs up some public concern.

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Anyone else have thoughts they would like to share? My email is way down to the right on this page.

Other articles that might be of interest (listed in reverse order of publication):

Saturday, 8-15-9 The Ridgefield Metra Deal

Friday, 8-14-9 Metra Votes to Purchase Ridgefield Station Site

Friday, 8-14-9 Craig Steagall Unleashes Broadside Against McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler over Metra State Land Purchase

Friday, 8-14-9 Metra Scheduled to Approve Former Flowerwood Land for Station in Ridgefield This Morning

Thursday, 8-13-9 $1.5 Million Being Paid for Ridgefield Metra Site Half-Owned by McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler

Thursday, 8-13-9 Metra Transparency Worse than McHenry County College’s

Wednesday, 8-12-9 Ridgefield Businessman Takes on McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler over Proposed Metra Station

Friday, 8-7-9 Musings on the Proposed Ridgefield Metra Station

Wednesday, 8-5-9 Alexander Lumber’s Move to Ridgefield, Proposed Metra Station Implications

Very, very shortly after I asked Metra Board Secretary Lisa Murphy to fax me what would be in the board packet for Friday’s meeting, my machine started to buzz.

The summary memo from Metra Executive Director Phillip Pagano revealed that $1,537,707 would be paid to Amcore Bank Trust 3582.

It is half owned by McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler and half by his former Flowerwood partner Gary Seigmeier’s estate. That “includes an $117,686 recapture fee for previously completed road improvements” (presumably for the 87 Lumber property between the station site and Downtown Ridgefield).

The price per acre for the 17.33 acres works out to be $81,789.

McHenry County College paid $67,000 an acre for 57 acres closer to Crystal Lake last year. (Click to enlarge the image. The proposed Metra site is northeast of this property. The train tracks are in the upper right hand corner of the picture.)

In arguing for the purchase, MCC President Walt Packard said that

“the property was perfectly sited to take advantage of a future Ridgefield Metra station maybe 20 years away.”

The Pagano memo points out that the station is about 5.1 miles from the Woodstock station and that Metra expects to annex it to Crystal Lake.

Pagano ends the memo with this justification:

“The subject property is a desirable location for a new station and enables Metra to locate the station north of the tracks allowing commuters to access morning trains to Chicago without crossing the tracks.

“Otherwise, the commuter facility south of the tracks would necessitate the procurement of additional property on the north side of the tracks in order to construct a depot with sufficient waiting area on the inbound side of the tracks and a Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department emergency access road from an existing public street to the depot site.”

I asked Murphy to ask Pagano if there would be a public hearing on the proposal.

Delores Ellison conveyed this answer from him:

“There will not be.”

No mention is made of the distance from the McHenry County College campus or that even that the college is in the vicinity.

McHenry County’s representative on the Metra board is former State Senator Jack Schaffer. He was appointed without dissent in 2006 by the county board chairmen of McHenry, Kane, Lake and Will County Boards.

Comments may be sent to Metra Board members here: metraboard@metrarr.com

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The land in question is just beyond the barbed wire fence surrounding the to-be new Alexander Lumber Company site. It is across Country Club Road and a bit to the northwest from the Google Map “A.”

Articles that might be of interest:

Alexander Lumber’s Move to Ridgefield, Proposed Metra Station Implications

Musings on the Proposed Ridgefield Metra Station

Ridgefield Businessman Takes on McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler over Proposed Metra Station

Metra Transparency Worse than McHenry County College’s

More than one person has reacted to Metra’s proposal to build a train station about as far from McHenry County College as is possible. Below I share some thoughts that have come from readers:

I am becoming concerned about the Metra plans to build a station on Ken Koehler’s property (the Northwest Herald reported that the parcel is owned by a trust in which Koehler has an interest), rather than something closer to the college and more accessible to Route 14.

If you look at the map, there are three possible locations.

One is on Ridgefield Road along the tracks abutting the back route to the college, although it is a triangular sliver and may have problem with water and/or toxic waste from the company next door.

It would also require that the parking be across the street from the station so people would have to cross, which could be a problem.

The other site would be just West of the soccer complex. That site appears to be large, dry, has access to Route 14, and would allow some type of potential pedestrian access to the college.

With the Koehler site, traffic is going to have to go through the middle of Ridgefield at an already dangerous intersection and it would not serve very many people to the North. I presume that people would have to exit onto Country Club Road so as not to cross the tracks, although people might attempt to shortcut over the tracks if they are on foot on route to the college.

All in all, this appears to be a much inferior site to the one to South of the tracks. That parcel is already inside the city limits of CL as far as I can tell from the map on the city’s website, which I presume is current.

Another concern expressed is that Ridgefield is too small to protect itself by incorporating.

Short of incorporation, they are going to be swallowed up by Crystal Lake.

When I was posting about the 400th day of Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley’s 75% city sales tax increase, I was fantasizing that Alexander Lumber was moving to the unincorporated Ridgefield location of the old 84 Lumber property in order to obtain a competitive advantage over Crystal Lake-based lumber yards like Menard’s and Home Depot.

That would be the result, but the reason for the relocation from its current 6.33 acre Virginia Street Road and Rakow Road location is more prosaic, even though economically based.

The firm is combining it McHenry and Crystal Lake locations, according to Alexander’s manager.

Then, I saw the Northwest Herald story about Metra’s wanting to build a Ridgefield commuter station.

It’s right next to the Alexandra Lumber site. You see it in the foreground here from Country Club Road.

Here’s a view from the tracks next to Seeger’s Grain elevators. As nearly as I can figure it, the station platform would be at the tip of the more or less pie-shaped property beyond the barbed wire fence of the Alexander Lumber Company property in the foreground.

Kevin Craver’s article says putting the commuter station on the property is contingent on its being annexed to Crystal Lake.

If that happened, there is no doubt that the city council would also annex Alexander Lumber, removing, of course, the 0.75% sales tax advantage the future unincorporated local bestows.

How would Crystal Lake annex property in the fiercely independent Ridgefield area?

Take a look at this map:

The Google map pointer is across the street from the proposed Metra station.

Crystal Lake’s city boundary is west of Route 14 just south of the northern section of Ridgefield Road. My understanding is that the property owner across Route 14 to the east, north of McHenry County College would not mind being annexed.

Somehow the city would have to annex a parcel at least 72 feet wide (remember how O’Hare Airport is annexed to Chicago by the Kennedy Expressway). Maybe it will be across the cornfield to the west of Ridgefield’s Regional Sports Center.

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Correction noted by a reader:

” In the article you wrote ‘remember how O’Hare Airport is annexed to Chicago by the Kennedy Expressway.’ The expressway has nothing to do with how the airport property was annexed to Chicago. The connection between O’Hare and the rest of the city is about one half mile south of the expressway. There is a narrow corridor of city land along the north side of Foster Avenue sandwiched between Rosemont and Schiller Park.”
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Looking at the map, it appears that the proposed station location will not be convenient for McHenry County College students, especially, if they had to walk a Country Club Road route to the campus. (My guess is they would just walk across the train tracks, taking the shortest route to their classrooms.)

But maybe there won’t be many of them taking the train.

Although the tracks are close to Ridgefield Road near the college’s eastern entrance, the land in that area is low and often covered with standing water.

If the college board wanted to kick in enough money, maybe the station could be built near where its Tartan Drive butts into Ridgefield Road. It could even donate part of the recently purchased 56 acres the land and ask Metra to use whatever it planned to use to buy land on Country Club Road to construct an over- or underpass to the nearby tracks.

It is worth noting that former Metra Board Chairman Jeff Ladd lives in the neighborhood and long sought a Ridgefield train station.

There’s one other observation that might be of interest. Realtor Mike Deacon’s name is on the sign at the Metra site. It’s probably just that he is a friend of McHenry County Board Chairman and former part owner of Flowerwood, whom the Northwest Herald reports is part of a trust owing the property.

Deacon was also the broker when the Crystal Lake Park District purchased Viking Dodge. Note that the Viking sign has been removed.