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IDOT: Route 20 project in Elgin will be done this summer

The lengthy — and delayed — construction of the new interchange at Route 20 and McLean Boulevard in Elgin has frustrated drivers and business owners for years, but the end might finally be in sight.

Construction is scheduled to be completed this summer, Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gianna Ugo said, although she declined to pinpoint a specific month. That's after the anticipated fall 2015 completion was pushed to spring 2016.

The $50 million project kicked off in July 2012, when IDOT officials said it would be done in three years.

The delay was caused by recent wet weather and utilities that had not been marked by the utility company during the design plan, Ugo said.

“Crews are finishing the northbound pavement on McLean Boulevard and then will move to the center medians, turn lanes and pavement at the intersections by the ramps,” she said. “The remaining work will be minor, including sidewalks, landscaping and traffic signal and electrical work.”

Last year, IDOT officials blamed delays related to coordinating the relocation of utility lines. They also said the condition of the ground required more fill than anticipated for the new bridge foundations.

Mayor David Kaptain said he's as frustrated as anyone.

“They are moving along, but so is the glacier,” he said. “This thing has been a moving target for their completion date for almost a year now.”

The city had been told in September that the only way for construction to end in 2015 was to restrict McLean Boulevard to one lane in each direction for about two months. City officials decided against it — thereby delaying the project until at least March — because they feared awful traffic backups.

“It's brutal on the businesses, but there is not much we can do,” Kaptain said.

The owners of the nearby strip mall that contains Elgin Fresh Market plan to perform improvements as soon as construction is over, Kaptain added.

Engineer Doug Paulus of Hampton Lenzini & Renwick in Elgin, who is overseeing the project, directed all questions to IDOT.

Neither this nor other IDOT projects have been affected by the state's fiscal woes because a capital budget is in place, Ugo said.

Route 20 project delayed to spring in Elgin

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