Cal Skinner as Cassandra

Cassandra was a Greek goddess who could predict the future, but who could do nothing to change it.

That came to mind when I read of the accident at Randall Road and Alexandra Boulevard on Saturday.

When that part of Four Colonies was before the Crystal Lake City Council, I attended to point out that the developer impact fees being charged were not enough to build the new grade school that would be required.

When I saw the entrance on Randall Road–what is now Alexandra Boulevard–I realized it closely resembled where my mother was killed by a speeding truck in Woodstock.

She was crossing Route 14 at Dean Street when a semi broadsided her.

There was no traffic signal, as there is now.

The topography coming over the hill heading south on Route 14 is similar to that of Randall Road heading south toward Lake in the Hills.

While attending the meeting to talk about how the Council’s approval would increase everyone’s taxes, I pointed out the probability that someone would get killed at the intersection, just as had happened to my mother in 1987.

The press release from the Crystal Lake Police Department last Friday stated that a three-car crash at the intersection left two people in critical condition.


Comments

Cal Skinner as Cassandra — 9 Comments

  1. Road planners in Illinois and some Illinois counties do very poor jobs. About 40-50 years ago, if Randall Road was going to be a major corridor, it should have had frontage roads in the design. With that, access to get on or off would have been only allowed at intersections with complete traffic signals OR a cloverleaf interchange such as at Algonquin Road, Huntley Road, Route 72, etc.

    Ineptness in road planning goes back at least 50-60 years in Illinois with the grand example being the failure to provide a route US 12 freeway from Illinois 53/Lake-Cook Road up to the Illinois-Wisc border near Richmond Illinois. The battle for that freeway is still going on.

    Because of development on Randall, it is now mostly impossible to put in frontage roads. The solution is a 35 MPH speed limit with more traffic signals at intersections from Huntley Road all the way up to Rakow Road. With a 35 MPH, there will still be some drivers that want to go 10-15 over the limit. Now, with the present limit, there are drivers doing 60 or more.

  2. Sorry for your loss Mr. Skinner.

    Turning onto 14/Randall – from Dean/Alexandria – looking left or right – they’res about a quarter mile or so, of clean, unobstructed views. Plenty of safe space to make a good driving decision.

    People are idiots. We need harsher penalties for cell phone use and reckless driving. Also with the surge of drivers over the age of 70 coming, something must be done about that. I don’t know what to do – but the increase in elderly drivers, is not good.

  3. The County Engineer is responsible and Now has Blood on His Hands!
    Korpalski,Joseph
    County Engineer
    $189,019.16

  4. C’mon people! Who are we to tell our paparazzi sunshine blogger he is not supposed to be driving? Who will take those spectacular political campaign sign pictures in his place? Or who will shoot pictures of license plates for those inspiring “messages of the day?” How about those close-up empty beer bottle pictures? Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock…

  5. The “surge” of morons that came out here over the last forty years is the real problem. How dare someone claim that the over seventy-year-olds are the problem. The elderly don’t even know how to use those cell phones. What are you suggesting be done about it? Are you going to ban the elders from YOUR road? I think someone should report this person as a threat to elders. This was a mostly peaceful county with idyllic rolling country roads before you came. I suggest nitwits like your kind should leave. Instead of threatening you I would suggest that you go drive somewhere else with your idiotic friends.

  6. “This was a mostly peaceful county with idyllic rolling country roads before you came” Who said this? The Native americans? And compassionate conservative sunshine commenters expect me to take this sunshine blog seriously…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeoooowwwww…

  7. Most of us have driven that stretch of Randall and pass Alexandra Road. Many drivers going south or north exceed the speed limit by 5 to 10 mph. It is very difficult to find an opening in the north-south traffic for an Alexandra driver wanting to make a left onto Randall. Also, their is right-turn only lane for southbound drivers wanting to turn right onto Alexandra. So, an Alexandra driver wanting to turn left to go north on Randall has to contend with up to 5 lanes of traffic to find an opening.

    The only safe solution is to make the intersection as “right-only” turn onto Randall Road for Alexandra drivers and to also make the intersection a “right-only” turn onto Alexandra for southbound Randall Road drivers. That would eliminate a good part of the hazard of that intersection.

    Someone tell this to Korpalski.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *