Pingree Grove circles traffic

Pingree Grove is going the roundabout way when it comes to correcting and beautifying an intersection.

Construction of a traffic circle, slated for the "confusing" crossing at Damisch and Reinking roads, will begin this summer.

Drivers would enter and exit the traffic circle from the north and south ends of Reinking Road, and on the east side of Damisch Road, Village Engineer Jeremy Lin said.

Right now, Damisch Road runs into Reinking Road at a sharp angle.

"It's weird how it kind of flows together and sits right there," Village President Wyman "Clint" Carey said.

The project is part of the village's larger scheme to revamp its downtown, a plan developed in 2006 by Batavia-based Downtown Professionals Network, which also calls for decorative sidewalks and new curbs.

In their plan, designers said the traffic circle would be an ideal way to get traffic under control.

The roundabout is designed to become a focal point in the new downtown and will include flowers and other plants, Lin said.

"This is really going to approve the aesthetics of the area," he said.

The two remaining options for the crossing were either converting the streets into a T-intersection or leaving them as is, Lin said.

But after consulting with Elgin officials on what traffic circles have meant to them, Pingree Grove leaders gave the project a green light.

While the intersection is by no means a dangerous one, police Chief Carol Lussky said the circle is designed to reduce speeding.

No accidents have been reported there, but some motorists go pretty fast when they enter town along Damisch Road.

The roundabout's 25 mph speed limit will force those drivers to apply the brakes.

While the entire downtown improvement project is going out to bid in two weeks, the traffic circle should be completed by late fall, Lin said.

Village officials say ongoing work to establish residential water and sewer services was the catalyst behind the makeover.