Chardon Road closure thoughts

In case you haven't heard about this yet, but I'm sure many law-abiding motorists in Lake County have been snared by this new tactic.

I was recently pulled over by a Lake County sheriff for using Chardon Road east-bound between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 am Monday through Friday.

There have been signs recently posted warning motorists not to use this road between these hours. I will not argue the fact that I disobeyed the sign itself, but I (and many other motorists) have been using this route for a least two years now.

You can only view the signs when traveling southbound on Fairfield Road from Round Lake. If you are coming northbound from the Wauconda area, the signs are not visible.

The officer said the signs were placed there to prevent too much traffic from using Chardon Road because there have been many accidents reported at the corner of Chardon and Route 60. Obviously, the reason people (including myself) are using Chardon Road during the morning commute is because of the horrible traffic back-ups on eastbound Route 60 during the a.m. rush hour.

Apparently, it is OK to use Chardon when turning off of Fairfield Road traveling northbound, but not when traveling southbound. How is this enforceable when you are singling out people traveling from one area (Round Lake, Volo, McHenry) but not others?

Since all Lake County residents are paying taxes for the upkeep of these public roads how is it legal to penalize certain motorist just because someone who lives on Chardon Road does not want to be subjected to the increased traffic associated with the lack of suitable routes in Lake County.

It's obviously a "not in my backyard" mentality where there are certain rules for some citizens, and not for others.

Rick Speer

Round Lake