Open houses planned for Huntley Road projects

Carpentersville and West Dundee are hosting open houses next week to inform residents of upcoming improvements to Huntley Road and part of Carpentersville's Main Street.

The multimillion-dollar construction projects, which have been in the works for years, are slated to begin late this summer, officials said.

Huntley Road is expected to be restructured from Elm Avenue to Sleepy Hollow Road, falling under the jurisdiction of both villages. The roadway will be widened to two lanes in each direction with a median and turn lanes wherever needed, said Ed Szydlowski, Carpentersville's engineering manager.

Additionally, the signals at the Elm Avenue intersection will be replaced, and upgrades will be made to pedestrian crosswalks, stormwater sewers and landscaping, he said.

Seventy percent of the roughly $7.8 million project is being funded through federal grant money, said Joe Cavallaro, West Dundee village manager. The remaining $2.6 million will be split evenly between West Dundee and Carpentersville.

"This is a very long and overdue segment of roadway that is in desperate need of increased capacity and repair," he said.

A separate project at the intersection at Huntley Road and Route 31, which falls solely into Carpentersville's jurisdiction, includes similar stormwater sewer, pedestrian crosswalk and landscaping improvements, Szydlowski said. Turn lanes will be added for every direction, he said.

The upgrades also will extend east of Route 31 where Huntley Road becomes Carpentersville's Main Street, Szydlowski said. Turn lanes are being added at the Main Street and Lincoln Avenue intersection.

Carpentersville is responsible for about $1.7 million, or 18 percent, of the project costs, with the rest being covered by state and federal funding sources, Szydlowski said.

Both projects will take about 18 to 20 months to complete, he added.

Exhibits and project plans will be on display during two informational open houses in the Carpentersville Public Works building at 1075 Tamarac Drive. Residents and business owners can ask questions and learn how the construction will affect them, Szydlowski said. A session on the Huntley Road project is at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The session for the Huntley Road/Main Street and Route 31 project is 7 p.m. Thursday.