Lake Marian residents want road to stay closed

Residents of Lake Marian, a small unincorporated neighborhood adjacent to Carpentersville, say they do not want to pay to fix a section of roadway that they would prefer remained blocked to traffic.

Dundee Township Highway Commissioner Larry Braasch said he closed Skyline Drive from Old Farm Lane to Lake Shore Drive last week after heavy rains compromised the structure. The road, like the neighborhood, falls under Dundee Township's jurisdiction.

"It is 35 years under the road and it needs some major repairs to make it safe," Braasch said. "The storms this spring were too much for the system."

Braasch said water that runs from the east side of Carpentersville used to run into what was Lake Marian. But stormwater now runs freely under Skyline Drive and Williams Road until it reaches the Fox River.

"It is like water in a bath tub when you pull the plug," Braasch said. "When it rains, water comes pouring in all at once."

In the past, Braasch said, the Lake Marian River Conservancy District has paid for materials and the township has completed the work. He estimated the repair work would cost more than $150,000 and would not begin until next spring.

But Lake Marian residents Gloria and Bob Van Cleave say the village of Carpentersville should be responsible for the road's repair because a majority of the traffic and 100 percent of the water that undermined the thoroughfare comes from Carpentersville.

"More than 95 percent of the cars come from Carpentersville," Bob Van Cleave said. "How much traffic can 290 people create? And all of the water that goes under that road is from Carpentersville."

Braasch suggested the conservancy district, which is responsible for drainage and runoff issues, contribute $50,000 toward the project. But that idea, which the conservancy district has not approved, does not sit well with residents who said that would end up adding about $175 per household on top of the taxes paid for Dundee Township roads.

"District 300 and Carpentersville police and fire are all entities contributing to this," Bob Van Cleave said. "But they are not asking them to pay. They are asking 290 residents to pay out of our budget for something that is a majority Carpentersville's problem."

Gloria Van Cleave added that the road closure has calmed the amount of traffic that accesses Dundee-Crown High School and the Fox View apartment complex through the neighborhood.

"I say don't spend a penny on it," she said. "Leave it the way it is and turn it into open space. It has been beautiful. The quietest it has been in 20 years."