Elgin tackles bad intersection

A key intersection just west of downtown Elgin is going to be a mess come Monday.

That's when a $1.4 million reconstruction and widening of the intersection of Wing Street and Route 31 will begin in earnest.

And it won't be done until November, with parts of Wing Street completely closed for a week in June along with perhaps all of July and August.

"The whole genesis of this job is to get a (dedicated) left turn lane in there" for northbound traffic on Route 31, said City Engineer Joe Evers. "This intersection is one of the 10 worst in the city."

People headed north on Route 31 and waiting to turn left frequently get rear-ended. If that doesn't happen, motorists who are in the left lane waiting often get stuck there for another light cycle.

Evers said one reason the project will take so long is because of the sheer number of contractors involved. "All the different people that have to do work will be in one spot," he said. "You can't have everybody out there at the same time. There's not enough room."

Motorists are encouraged to use Big Timber Road and McLean Boulevard as detour routes.

Evers said that Route 31 will be reduced to one lane in each direction for part of the project, but not all of it. At no time will it be completely closed.

The Surface Transportation Program, a federal highway grant program, is covering 70 percent of the project's cost.

In addition to adding a left-turn lane for northbound traffic, the project includes new traffic signals and new railroad crossing signals, new curb and gutter and widening on Wing a block west to Bird Street.

Mayor Ed Schock said the project has been in the works for years but could not start until grant money was released.

"It will be a big improvement when it's done," he said. "Adding that dedicated left turn lane is going to make a big difference. It's an old, difficult intersection and as traffic has increased, we have to increase capacity."