Improved Bliss, Merrill roads open Friday in Sugar Grove

The intersection of Merrill and Bliss roads in Sugar Grove will reopen Friday afternoon, after months of being shut for construction, according to Sugar Grove village officials.

It's been shut since April 20 as Kane County lowered a hill, straightened a curve and installed left-turn lanes. One of the turn lanes is for northbound traffic on Bliss to turn on to Merrill; the other is on Merrill, for turning on to Bliss.

The work was designed to improve visibility.

Bliss Road connects Main Street on the north to Route 47 on the southwest.

During construction, Merrill Road users had to detour west to Route 47, then head north, if they wanted to get to Main Street. Drivers from Main Street could either use Route 47 to head south, or wind through a detour in the Windstone neighborhood on the east side of Bliss.

The project was budgeted at $1.97 million.

The average daily traffic count on Bliss, from Route 47 to Merrill, was 10,900, according to Kane County's transportation division. Merrill's is 800.