Some Route 20 work delayed

On the bright side, delays from construction on Route 20 in Elgin will only last from this week until August.

On the not-so-bright side, one of Elgin's most dangerous intersections will remain status quo for another year.

An Illinois Department of Transportation official said Monday that only retaining wall work will be done from July to November at the intersection of Shales Parkway and Route 20.

The rest of the $8 million project, including modernizing the traffic signal and adding more turn lanes in all four directions, will be done during the 2009 construction season, said IDOT spokesman Mike Claffey.

The retaining wall work will not result in lane closures.

But work on a different Route 20 project, replacing four lanes atop a bridge over the EJ&E railroad tracks, will proceed as scheduled and hopefully wrap up by Aug. 31.

The $847,000 project will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction for the duration of the project, prompting warnings of major delays along the area's key east-west route.

The Shales Parkway improvements have been on IDOT's to-do list for eight years and the intersection with Route 20 is regarded as one of the city's most dangerous.

Claffey doesn't believe the price tag will increase because a bid for the entire project will be awarded in June.

Mayor Ed Schock said Monday he was disappointed the project was delayed another year.

He also noted that several state projects, such as Wing Street and Route 31 and Route 20 near Nesler Road, also have been delayed.

"(The intersection) needs work desperately. If (the state) can't do it, they can't do it," Schock said. "They're short of money. We haven't had a capital program in Illinois since the George Ryan days. Everyone knows it. IDOT is not doing a lot of projects because they don't have money."