New design raising old debates at Randall-Algonquin crossroads

Plans for an innovative new design at one of McHenry County's busiest intersections is sparking an old debate pitting the need to move traffic quickly against the desire to make stopping convenient for shoppers and the businesses that rely on them.

At the center of the debate is a proposed "continuous flow intersection" at Randall and Algonquin roads that, highway engineers say, will significantly ease congestion for the next 20 years at the heavily traveled crossroads.

Officials with the McHenry County Division of Transportation said the design - which would be the first of its kind in Illinois and one of just a handful in the country - would help cut several minutes off Randall Road commuters' drive time.

It would work by shifting traffic turning left off Randall into special lanes that sit left of oncoming traffic. That allows those cars to proceed at even as through traffic clears the intersection.

Expanding the intersection in a purely conventional design would not address its long-term needs, said Wally Dittrich, design manager for the division of transportation.

"(Traffic flow) would get a little better initially, but eventually it would deteriorate and by 2030 it would be worse than it is today," he said.

Without improvements, Dittrich said, it could take drivers in 2030 about 30 minutes to cover the 31/2-mile stretch of Randall between County Line and Ackman roads.

But in order to make the idea work, highway officials would have to shut down several access points for adjacent businesses and perhaps even relocate others, something with which leaders in Lake in the Hills in particular take issue.

"It makes it impossible to get in and out of those businesses without circuitous route changes," Lake in the Hills Village President Ed Plaza said. "Businesses are barely getting by today. You start taking away the ability for customers to get to them, you're going to kill them."

Transportation officials say they hope to work with municipal leaders to find a plan with which everyone can live.

One option under consideration, Dittrich said, is a "half CFI" that would mix the concept with a more conventional approach, enabling officials to keep open more access points to businesses on Algonquin Road.

"It would sacrifice a bit on an operations standpoint from what we were hoping to accomplish, but it does compromise on some of the access concerns the municipalities have," Dittrich said.

Another option would be construction of a network of smaller roads - at a cost of as much as $10 million - linking the shopping centers to one another and the limited access points.

Dittrich said county transporation officials would continue meeting with village officials in the coming weeks in hopes of working out a concept that meets everyone's needs to present to county board members in July or August.

The intersection redesign is part of a larger, $120 million plan to widen Randall Road between County Line and Ackman.

"It's really a balancing act between getting traffic from one place to another while maintaining economic development," said Paula Yensen, a McHenry County Board member and former Lake in the Hills village trustee. "That (intersection) really is the economic engine, as far as commercial development, for that part of the county."

To see what the continuous flow intersection concept looks like in action, visit randallroad.info.