Public hearing scheduled for Randall Road plan
McHenry County residents will have a chance to air their views on an improvement plan for Randall Road that at least one municipality adamantly opposes.
McHenry County Division of Transportation officials and consultants from Chicago-based HDR will present their “preferred alternative” for the 3.5-mile corridor from Ackman Road in Crystal Lake south to County Line Road in Algonquin at a public hearing Jan. 24.
The plan includes a two-leg continuous flow intersection (CFI) at Randall and Algonquin roads, which the village of Lake in the Hills argues would impede access to businesses and create confusion for drivers. In a CFI, vehicles turn left off a turn lane with a dedicated light that staggers the flow of traffic.
“We’re going to have a ghost town over there and that is not acceptable. We’ve been saying it for three years,” Village President Ed Plaza said earlier this week.
The village board unanimously voted Thursday night for a conventional intersection design with dual left-turn lanes.
Board member Bob Huckins, who served on a community advisory council along with 25 other stakeholders in the project, said although the advisory group ultimately selected the CFI design as its preferred solution, it was by no means a unanimous sentiment. Also, the community response to the CFI plan was “overwhelmingly negative,” he said.
MCDOT design manager Wally Dittrich said the proposed final plan was developed after getting feedback on four preliminary designs presented to the public in 2008.
“We feel that we’ve developed an alternative that meets the needs and goals for the project, not only to maintain enhanced mobility for traffic to get through the village, but also to maintain access to the commercial properties,” he said.
In neighboring Algonquin, trustee Jim Steigert said most of his concerns about the CFI plan were assuaged by county engineers, who have said that CFI intersections have lower accident rates.
Steigert said he’s still not sure what would be best for Randall Road. “Either you throw your faith in engineers or go with an alternative that may not work in the long run. Therein lies the dilemma,” he said.
Dittrich said the department is hoping for maximum support for the $80 million to $100 project, for which federal funds will be needed. “If we’re not able to achieve a plan with everybody on board, the county will have to make a decision to move forward with limited support, or not move forward,” he said.
To comply with federal rules, a portion of the Jan. 24 public hearing will be devoted to a discussion about Ken Carpenter Park at Randall and Miller roads in Lake in the Hills. MCDOT’s plan calls for using about 2 acres of park along a narrow strip bordering Randall Road, but none of the amenities — equipment, picnic shelters or the volleyball court — will be affected, Dittrich said.
Dittrich said he hopes for a great public turnout at the hearing.
“We’re doing a lot of work to try and get the word out. We have a Facebook page, ads in papers, we talked to all the municipalities and chambers of commerce,” he said.
The public hearing is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of Jacobs High School, 2601 Bunker Hill Drive in Algonquin.