McHenry County Blog

A press release from State Rep. Mike Tryon:

More than $18 Million in Transportation Improvements Coming to District 66

Mike Tryon

SPRINGFIELD….. State Representative Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) announced Wednesday that more than $18 million in state and federal funding is headed to District 66 for road improvement projects through 2019.

The comprehensive program, unveiled by Governor Pat Quinn at a press conference at the Capitol, calls for $12.62 billion to be spent from 2014-2019 on transportation improvements throughout Illinois. The statewide plan calls for the improvement of 2,142 miles of highway, the replacement or improvement of 517 bridges, and significant investments into the public transit system.

According to Tryon, state highway improvements that will take place within District 66 include:

• $9.1 million for improvements in on Route 47 and Route 176 between Route 14 and Reed Road in McHenry County
• $5 million for a bridge replacement on Route 47 at the Kishwaukee River in McHenry County
• $1.12 million for improvements to Route 68 between Prairie Lakes Road to Algonquin Road in Kane County
• $800,000 for a resurfacing project on Route 68 between Route 72 and the Cook County Line in Kane County
• $1.65 million for a resurfacing project on Route 72 between Route 20 and I-90 in Kane County
• $469,000 for a resurfacing project on Route 72 from Village Quarter Road to east of 3rd Street in Kane County

“Every one of these projects will improve congestion and safety on some of District 66’s most traveled roads,” said Tryon. “The area will also benefit from much-needed construction jobs during that construction phase, and permanent improvements that will benefit the people of McHenry and Kane Counties for years to come.”

Funding for the statewide program includes $7.2 billion in anticipated federal funds and $1.9 billion in state funds, with the remaining money coming from local and other sources.

A press release from the McHenry County Board:

Illinois Route 31 @ Virginia Road/Klasen Road Widening and Reconstruction Improvement; Completion of the final Stage III has occurred and the roadway is ready to be open to traffic.

[November 28, 2012 Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Cary, IL] The McHenry County Division of Transportation is announcing that the roadway construction on Illinois Route 31 at Virginia Road/Klasen Road has been completed and that all lanes of traffic will be open on Thursday, November 29th.

Motorists should expect a slight delay the day of the opening as the traffic signals get turned on.

There is a small amount of remaining work to be done after the 29th which will be done using daily lane closures. The lane closures are expected to last until the middle of December.

Construction on Route 31 and Klasen Road on the Saturday of Algonquin’s Founders Days Parade.

Upon completion, the Illinois Route 31 @ Virginia Road/Klasen Road Widening and Reconstruction Improvements will tie into the Western Algonquin Bypass Project, connecting a key corridor for the area.

The project along IL 31 has seen many improvements take place because of the construction this year.

Those include over a mile of new reconstructed concrete pavement with four lanes of traffic and dual left turn lanes at Virginia Road.

The realignment of Virginia Road also was completed with efforts to increase safety at the intersection of IL 31.

The Klasen Road and Virginia Road intersections at Illinois Route 31 received modernized traffic signals.

A new bike path was paved along the entire length of the east side of IL 31.

Over two and a half miles of new storm sewer has been installed to go together with the open-ditch storm water system.

The final landscaping for Illinois Route 31 will be completed in the Spring of 2013. This work will take place under daily lane closures and may also include some small punch-list items.

The McHenry County Division of Transportation would like to thank you for your patience this past year while the project was being constructed.

Take a look at the sign below:

State Farm Insurance, based in Illinois, must be contributing to the Indiana Department of Transportation for its name to be on this “Hoosier Helper Patrol Zone” sign.

As we sped past, I wondered why Illinois is following suit.

Why doesn’t the Illinois Department of Transportation allow similar sponsorships?

If you see something on a trip that other states do that Illinois doesn’t drop McHenry County Blog a line and, even better, a line and a photo. The email address is on the left hand side of the screen.

The Chicago Tribune wrote a major article about the Federal Highway Administration’s shifting of money from the Prairie Pathway to improving Route 47.

When I first heard of about the Prairie Parkway, I figured it was being built for land speculators.

After all, there was little traffic from I-80 to I-90.

And beyond, according to one McHenry County Board District 2 candidate’s answer to a Northwest Herald questionnaire shortly after the new interstate idea was surfaced by U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Can’t imagine what someone had in mind for the open spaces in District 6?

Think of a four-lane highway running up from the Northwest Tollway to the Wisconsin Interstate north of Richmond.

We should all know by now that four-lane highways bring growth. That’s because people can get farther faster.

So, some folks in McHenry County were planning to replace western McHenry County corn and soy bean fields with fields of housing.

Fortunately, we in McHenry County dodged that bullet.

But the threat to western Kane County remained until this past week when the Federal Highway Administration turned thumbs down on a reduced Prairie Pathway that would have run from I-80 to I-88.

There still leaves the north-south traffic on Route 47

That’s the road I took to Springfield during the 1970′s, so I know it well.

As growth pushed westward, Route 47 got more and more crowded.

Now, the FHA proposes widening Route 47 from I-80 to I-88.

Shame the Feds didn’t decide to widen Route 47 all the way north to I-90 (Huntley), but I think the alternative makes sense.

When the billion dollar cost of the Prairie Parkway was announced, my immediate thought was that immense improvements could be made on Route 47 for that amount of money.

Let me add my congratulations to Jan Strasma, one of the spark plugs behind the Citizens Against the Sprawlway.

The Chicago Tribune’s Jon Hilkevitch’s comprehensive article can be found here.

The web site of the folks who beat the Spralway is here.

Scott Summer is a big advocate of alternative transportation modes. Here he rides with Rich Whitney, the 2010 Green Party candidate for Governor.

A press release from Democratic Party District 6 McHenry County Board candidate Scott Summers:

McHenry County’s draft 2040 transportation plan — predicated on dysfunction?

Yesterday (August 23, 2012), I attended an open house hosted by the McHenry County Department of Transportation.

The subject was the county’s draft transportation plan for the year 2040. (http://www.2040mchenrycountyplan.org)

Considerable effort is going into preparation of the document. In particular, its elevated attention to public transit and walkways/bikeways is to be commended. I was pleased to speak with thoughtful and knowledgeable county staff.

Overall, I offer an opinion that many people will find to be unusual.

Much of the draft plan is predicated on dysfunction. And rather than remediate the dysfunction, the plan inadvertently perpetuates it.

Consider this: roughly 80% of our working residents stream out of the county every day for employment elsewhere. Conversely, significant numbers of service workers are commuting into McHenry County daily.

The majority of these arduous trips are made by single individuals in private automobiles.

Rather than facilitate and enable and reinforce these spectacularly wasteful travel patterns by sinking ever-increasing sums into new roads, we must work instead to shorten commutes.

To accomplish this, we should redouble our economic development efforts to generate in-county jobs. And we should increase our stocks of affordable housing.

It may take decades to turn our collective driving habits around. But that’s what a long range plan is all about.

I believe that comprehensive efforts to shorten our commutes — and to reduce driving overall — are eminently worthy goals for the year 2040.

That’s what this reminder from the McHenry County Department of Transportation says:

“The McHenry County Division of Transportation will be holding an open house this Thursday, August 23rd, 2012, between 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM at the Crystal Lake City Hall.

“Attendees will be able to review the public comments on the 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan that have been heard to this point, review the goals and objectives of the plan, and provide their input on the direction of the plan.

“County DOT staff will be in attendance to listen to your ideas and gather input. To learn more about the plan, review documents, and see what others in the County have to say about transportation on the ‘Map’ visit http://www.2040mchenrycountyplan.org.”

Among the information used to create the plan are the following population esxtimates:

McHenry County population projections to the year 2030.

If you are more comfortable with graphics that tables, below are maps of households per acre in 2006 and 2030.

Households per acre in McHenry County in 2006.

Both of these images may be enlarged by clicking on them.

Estimated McHenry County households per acre in 2030.

And how does the County Board spent and plan to spend your money between 2006 and 2030. Take a look below:

Proposed major road improvements from 2006-2030 are seen above.

A press release from Congressman Randy Hultgren:

Hultgren Signs Letter in Support of Multi-Year Highway Bill

Randy Hultgren signing Certificates of Appreciation to be handed out at the Nunda Township Republican Party Picnic.

Geneva, IL – U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (IL-14) today announced that he has joined with other House Republicans in sending a letter to House Leadership expressing support for a multi-year highway bill with a long-term, sustainable revenue source.

“I strongly believe it is the constitutional responsibility of the federal government to invest in our infrastructure, and a long-term, multi-year, streamlined surface transportation bill is the only responsible course of action,” said Hultgren, a member of the House Transportation Committee.

“Our goal with this letter is to show leadership that we are committed to crafting legislation that provides economic certainty for the transportation and construction industries so they can start rebuilding our nation’s deteriorating infrastructure and promote long-term job growth.”

To view the full letter, click here.

A press release from Congressman Randy Hultgren:

Kirk, Lipinski, Hultgren Call for Extension of Surface Transportation Legislation

Longer-term bipartisan bill could mobilize $100 billion in new public-private partnerships

Chicago, IL – In a show of bipartisan, bi-cameral unity United States Senator Mark Kirk, Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3), and Congressman Randy Hultgren (IL-14) joined representatives from the Illinois Road Builders Association, Operating Engineers Local 150 and other transportation advocates in calling for Congress to extend the expiring Surface Transportation Act.

This legislation authorizes federal transportation projects across the nation, and allows the collection of revenues that fund infrastructure improvements. It was introduced in the House late Friday that would extend aviation programs through January and highway and transit programs through March.

If Congress does not adopt this act by September 30th, federal reimbursement of highway and transit projects will stop, with $100 million in funding lost each day.

Mark Kirk

“Congress should quickly approve this extension legislation to avoid a shutdown of the Highway Trust Fund,” said Kirk.

“We also support a longer-term solution by lifting federal barriers that could mobilize up to $100 billion for transportation private-public partnerships.”

“America is in a jobs crisis, and nothing creates jobs quickly and over the long term like investing in transportation,” Rep. Dan Lipinski said.

“It’s high time we passed a robust, multi-year transportation reauthorization. The last bill expired two years ago, and it’s simply absurd that Congress and the President haven’t acted. I’m glad to see there’s a transportation component to the President’s jobs plan, but it’s less than 15 percent of the total and that’s simply not enough. We need a reauthorization that enables major projects and increases, not cuts, funding levels. The bipartisan two-year bill recently proposed on the Senate side would be a good start. In the meantime, we need to make sure we avoid a shutdown of transportation programs like the one that disabled the FAA this summer.”

Randy Hultgren

“I’m optimistic that a bipartisan agreement can be reached on a serious, long-term investment in our nation’s infrastructure,” said US Rep. Randy Hultgren, a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

“But until that agreement can be reached, we should extend SAFETEA-LU before it expires which will help to address the high unemployment in the transportation trades putting thousands of Americans back to work.”

The House legislation, authored by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL), would extend funding for surface transportation programs at Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 levels through March 31, 2011, and aviation programs through January 31, 2011. Congressional leaders reached the deal on Friday, but requires passage by both the House and the Senate.

As part of his efforts to find more private money for importing transportation projects, Senator Kirk today sent a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), Ranking Member on the Committee on Environment and Public Works, encouraging both the immediate extension of the legislation as passage of components of the Lincoln Legacy Infrastructure Development Act (S.1300) in a long-term transportation bill.

The Lincoln Legacy Act, which lifts barriers to private-public partnerships, could mobilize $100 billion in private investment to build new roads, airports, and railroads. Congressmen Hultgren and Lipinski, Illinois members of the House Transportation Committee, are collaborating on companion legislation in the House.

The event took place at the Wacker Drive reconstruction site. In 2005, Congress provided $25 million in federal funding for the project. Should a shutdown occur, $19 million of the unspent funds would be unable to be reimbursed.

Background on the Surface Transportation Act (SAFETEA-LU):

In 2005, Congress passed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) – a six-year $286-billion transportation bill funding roads and transit projects.

In 2009, SAFETEA-LU expired, and since then Congress passed seven short-term extensions to keep infrastructure improvements moving forward. The current extension expires on September 30th, and with it the federal government’s ability to collect gasoline taxes and reimburse states for projects.

While granting extensions is routine, last month the Federal Aviation Administration was shuttered for several weeks as leaders in the House and Senate fought over language to extend the program. Approximately 4,000 federal employees were furloughed and $300 million was lost in aviation revenue.

But a highway program shutdown would be even more devastating. Should the program lapse, the federal government will lose $100 million a day. Illinois would see a halt in the flow of federal funds and 65,000 Illinois jobs could be at risk according the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Approximately 62 percent of IDOT’s construction program comes from the federal government.