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County moving forward with widening project

The McHenry County Board recently approved spending up to $15.9 million for the design phase of the Randall Road widening project.

The board awarded a $9.1 million contract to TranSystems and Bollinger Lach and Associates to conduct the second phase of engineering, a $1.75 million contract to Mathewson Right of Way Co. to secure land needed for the project, and approved $5 million for land purchase.

The segment being improved falls within three villages: Algonquin (Algonquin Commons north to Algonquin Road), Lake in the Hills (Algonquin Road north to Ackman, west of Randall) and Crystal Lake (Miller Road north to Ackman, east of Randall). The project calls for widening the entire stretch to three lanes in each direction, building dual left-turn lanes and right-turn-only lanes at major signaled intersections.

The entire Randall Road improvement project is estimated to cost roughly $115 million, including construction, land acquisition and engineering. The project includes a continuous flow intersection proposed for Randall and Algonquin roads that Lake in the Hills officials oppose.

The CFI alone is expected to cost roughly $13 million for construction.

County Administrator Peter Austin said the next step is for the project designers to meet with officials, property owners and businesses in the affected communities to further address any concerns.

“We had a lot of dialogue with Algonquin and we're looking forward to more dialogue with Lake in the Hills,” Austin said.

Austin said a compromise could be worked out on the CFI, if the number of access points and curb cuts were reduced from what was originally proposed.

“Perhaps, it doesn't need to be as dramatic,” he said. “We're going to move deliberately to make sure we are getting all the input.”

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