$2.5 million grant to help with Huntley Road improvements

First, the good news.

The village of West Dundee has received a $2.5 million grant from the Kane/Kendall Council of Mayors to widen and repair the village’s section of Huntley Road.

Now, the bad news.

The project costs $6.5 million and the village doesn’t have the remaining $4 million needed to complete it, Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said.

The work would take place between Tartans Drive and Grand Pointe Boulevard and also include the intersection at Sleepy Hollow and Huntley roads.

It would include adding two more lanes to the two-lane road and an improved intersection at Huntley and Sleepy Hollow roads with permanent traffic signals and dedicated turning lanes to improve traffic flow. Moreover, all of the streets between Tartans Drive and Grand Pointe Boulevard would receive turning lanes.

The final part of the project involves resurfacing the pockmarked road.

“This section of roadway is in dire need of permanent repairs,” Cavallaro said.

Huntley Road is one of the most traveled streets in the village, with more than 18,200 vehicles crossing it daily, Public Works Director Rich Babica said.

That number is expected to increase in the future and the road’s improvements would ensure its viability in the future.

“What we’re trying to do is build a road that the drivers need and that the region needs,” Babica said.

In July, Cavallaro and the village board are expected to discuss how West Dundee would pay for the project and which grants to seek.

The widening project has been on the village’s radar for 10 years as something it wants to get done. Authorities hope to see construction start between 2013 and 2014.