Kane County to examine transportation priorities

Some Kane County Board members want more input on the county's transportation priorities.

Members of the transportation committee delayed voting on a five-year traffic projects plan Monday. The county is required to submit a plan to the state annually.

Don Wolfe, an Elgin Republican, said county board members needed more input to prioritize projects.

He said he had "a lot of problems" with the plan for an Anderson Road extension and overpass from Route 38 to Keslinger Road near Elburn. Construction is supposed to start there in 2010.

That doesn't carry nearly the traffic of a stretch of Huntley Road from Route 31 to Randall Road, he said.

"It's a major disaster," he said.

The plan includes everything from the Stearns Road bridge to roadway replacement and resurfacing with tentative timelines.

County Deputy Director of Transportation Tom Rickert said the plan was a guideline that wasn't binding.

But Wolfe said he worried projects getting started weren't priorities and if money were spent on them now, it would tie up funding for several years to get them done.

The committee plans to meet within the next few weeks to talk about specific projects.