What you need to know about summer road work in Kane County
Can you get there from here?
The answer for Kane County drivers this summer is yes, but not without aggravation.
Especially if you are trying to get through Geneva, as two state highways that bisect the city will be under construction in the months ahead.
In the Tri-Cities
• Geneva drivers already are familiar with disruption on Route 38 east of Kirk Road, where the state began building an overpass at Kautz Road last year. That project is about 85 percent complete, according to Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Carson Quinn. The state expects to finish it in mid- to late August.
But now they (and drivers in Maple Park, Elburn and St. Charles) are dealing with the repaving of Route 38 from the DeKalb/Kane County line east through Geneva.
Some of the work in downtown Geneva will be done between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily. The state is starting on the west and working east. An expected completion date has not been revealed.
• The state also plans to work on two segments of Route 31.
Resurfacing will take place from Middle Road in South Elgin to Wildrose Springs Drive in St. Charles.
The state also will be working on Route 31 from Elizabeth Place in Geneva south to Main Street in Batavia. Preliminary site work and utility relocation has begun. Beginning May 1, the state will remove trees, repair and replace curbs and sidewalks, adjust manhole covers, and resurface the street.
It may also re-stripe the roadway so that part of it, from Elizabeth to just north of the Riverbank Laboratories, is converted from four lanes to two lanes, with a center turn lane. The city of Geneva requested this, but has not heard an answer from the state, according to city spokesman Kevin Stahr.
Route 25 is being suggested as a detour.
• Besides the Route 31 work, Batavians will see another project this year in the downtown. The city plans to begin rebuilding Houston Street, from Batavia to Island avenues. The road will be closed.
And walkers in Batavia will get a little help crossing routes 25 and 31 in eight spots where there aren't traffic signals. All will have crosswalks painted, and at six of them sun-powered flashing beacons will be installed to warn drivers pedestrians may be afoot.
Sugar Grove
It's hard to remember a time when some portion of Route 30 through Kane County hasn't been lined with construction barricades, and this year is no different.
The state will be rebuilding its intersection with Dugan Road, and improving lanes and shoulders from just east of the Sugar Grove Village Hall to Dugan.
It will also install a roundabout to the south of the intersection on Dugan, and realign Granart Road.
The state expects it will be done with the work in November.
Other roads
Parts of Randall, La Fox, Bliss, Tanner, Mooseheart and Orchard roads are due to be resurfaced, according to the Kane County Division of Transportation. The work is to start this week.
The county also anticipates putting in a roundabout at Route 47 and Burlington Road; rebuilding the intersection of Kirk and Douglas roads in Batavia; rebuilding the intersection of Kaneville Road and Fabyan Parkway near Geneva; rebuilding the intersection of Main Street and Nelson Lake roads near Batavia; and replacing the Main Street Road bridge over Blackberry Creek near Elburn.
Work continues on the construction of a new railroad bridge near the intersection of Route 25 and Stearns Road, as well as installation of a new storm sewer and a bridge across a creek. The state just finished taking out the old bridge, Quinn said. The project should be done in June 2016.
Last month, the state began repaving Route 68 through East Dundee, from Main Street to Prairie Lake Road.
And for the work at Route 20 and McLean Boulevard, the Route 20 portion should be finished by the end of July, and the McLean portion by the end of November, Quinn said.