Last-minute projects slow Fox Valley traffic

Getting around northern Kane County and parts of McHenry County these days requires maneuvering through a labyrinth of closed roads, construction zones and detours.

Though government agencies try to avoid running numerous road improvement projects in the same area all at once, Algonquin streets superintendent Al Mozola said money and time constraints sometimes dictate otherwise.

"Agencies are scampering to spend their money before the well runs dry because a lot of the money is federal money," Mozola said. "When it comes around, you have to grab it."

At Harnish Drive and Randall Road in Algonquin, the McHenry County Division of Transportation and developer Algonquin Penney are widening Randall Road, adding turn lanes and constructing a new frontage road in front of the Oakridge Court Shopping Center.

Daily lane closures are in place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To the east, the Illinois Department of Transportation has begun work on replacing a culvert under Route 31, just south of Route 62 near the Buffalo Park Forest Preserve. From 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday, Route 31 is closed to all through traffic between routes 72 and 62. Local traffic is permitted up to the construction site.

The project is expected to continue through November 17.

More traffic woes exist just west of Route 31 in Algonquin with Huntington Drive closed while workers repair a collapsed retaining wall. Motorists that manage to get through the backups in Algonquin will find more road work at Route 31 and the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in Elgin with long-term closures expected on eastbound entrance and exit ramps.