Algonquin Western Bypass progress complicated by mining issue

A claim over mining rights is complicating progress on the construction of the Western Bypass of Route 31 in Algonquin, village officials said.

Meyer Material Co. wants to retain mining rights for its property at 10500 S. Route 31 in Algonquin, which is used as a storage facility, Algonquin public works director Bob Mitchard said.

The Illinois Department of Transportation has stated it will seek bids for the project's grading work in January, but Mitchard believes that “nine chances out of 10” the mining issue will delay that.

The long-anticipated project is designed to relieve congestion in downtown Algonquin by allowing traffic on Route 31 to bypass the intersection with Route 62.

Randy Wille, who oversees property and estates for Des Plaines-based Meyer, declined to comment on specifics.

“Negotiations are going on between IDOT and Meyer,” he said. “We are working together to come up with a fair price to take some of the land for us.”

The law firm Ryan & Ryan in Chicago, which represents Meyer, did not return a call for comment.

Attorney Richard Redmond, of Holland & Knight in Chicago, said IDOT is waiting for engineering plans to be finalized before filing a motion for immediate vesting of the title, also known as a “quick take” motion, in about a month.

Last year, IDOT filed several condemnation lawsuits regarding properties along the Western Bypass route. The Meyer condemnation suit was only filed this summer because it's the most complicated case, Redmond said. The company will need to relocate buildings and a storage shed across to the east side of Route 31, where it also owns land, Redmond said.

Meyer claims it had future plans to mine the soil, and that being prevented from doing so would result in millions of dollars in damages, Redmond said. However, the company has not yet shown IDOT any soil boring tests or specific mining plans, he said.

All of this “slowed things down initially,” he said.

It is not unusual for mining to take place under tollways, Redmond added. IDOT could obtain surface rights to the land only with a permanent easement, or acquire the property and then lease its mining rights.

IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell declined to comment on pending litigation, only saying that “there is an ongoing condemnation case concerning one property that we need to acquire before the second stage” of work on the north end of the bypass can begin.

That work includes grading, excavation and sewer and drainage work, which IDOT anticipates will begin next spring. Building demolition was completed earlier this year, Tridgell added.

“I wouldn't call it a delay,” he said. “We expect the situation to resolve shortly and still anticipate the road being open in late 2013.”