The daffodils will soon be blooming next to Fleming Road.
Let’s look at what those opposed to making Fleming Road an eastern by-pass of Woodstock have to say about
FLEMING ROAD COST BENEFIT CONSIDERATIONS
There are three primary considerations used in evaluating roadway needs: Capacity, Safety, and Cost.
The County Department of Transportation has acknowledged that neither capacity nor safety are issues that would require remediation of Fleming Road.
Therefore, cost must be driving this project.
McDOT has indicated that Fleming Road has reached a point where it needs to be completely rebuilt, and that anything less would not be cost effective.
Many months ago, local residents at a CAG meeting requested a cost benefit analysis from McDOT to help us understand the reasoning behind the proposed expenditure of $5.2 million on a 2.4 mile local road project that will result in
- a huge loss of trees and habitat
- higher,
- less safe vehicle speeds negatively affecting the character and property values of our neighborhood
To date, we have not received any such analysis.
In the absence of a reply from McDOT, we have consulted with engineering professionals who have indicated that there are indeed cost effective solutions to the repair of Fleming Road that would save the county millions of taxpayer dollars, and retain the existing character of the community.
McDOT has budgeted $5.2 million for the Fleming Road reconstruction with an expected service life of 15-20 years.
Based upon similar projects, a simple overlay of Fleming Road would cost $500k with an expected service life of 4 years. This process would provide a $1.5-2 million budget to provide the same 15-20 year service life.
Another alternative would be based on the 2010 Bull Valley Road repair process.
This was not just an overlay paving, but included excavating to a depth of 8 inches, and replacing failed base road areas where necessary.
Under this method, Fleming Road could be repaired and resurfaced for approximately $545,000.
This repair method is expected to provide an 8–10 year service life delivering a total budget of approximately $1 million.
Under this last method, McDOT could save the County’s hard press taxpayers over $4 million to repair Fleming Road and respond to the public’s overwhelming desire to keep the road in its existing footprint.
Although the existing shoulder configurations of Fleming Rd are unconventional, the drainage system works very well along the great majority of the roads length, due to the extremely porous soils in the kettle moraine topography of the region.
We invite interested Board members to walk the road with us to see for yourselves how well the existing shoulder and drainage systems work.
Our belief is that the most common sense approach to repairing Fleming Road would be to correct the two areas McDOT listed with drainage deficiencies, and proceed with repairing, or reconstructing, the remainder of the road in its existing footprint.
This would likely result in maintaining the beautiful character of this scenic road and save the over taxed residents of McHenry County millions in the process.
Flemning Road in early spring.
We ask you, the elected County Board members, to direct McDOT to revise the Fleming Road project to simply rebuild the road within its existing footprint, in order to save the County millions, and to preserve the character of our neighborhood.