Stearns Road project on course for Dec. 16 completion

All the pieces are now in place for a Dec. 16 completion of the largest road construction project in Kane County history.

Members of the Kane County Board's transportation committee approved some final details for the Stearns Road corridor Monday including establishing a 45 mph speed limit on the roadway. Monday also marked the 95 percent completion mark for the more than $160 million project.

The corridor officially runs from about the Tri-County State Park in western DuPage County to Randall Road in eastern Kane County. It includes two-lane highway in each direction. New intersections with traffic signals are in place at Randall Road, McLean Boulevard, Route 25 and Dunham Road.

The 4.6-mile project dates back as early as 2001 when a Federal Highway Administration specifically recommended its construction. At least 20 years ago, the federal government identified additional crossings of the Fox River as a major transportation need in the region to ease traffic congestion, spur economic growth and fuel the population boom that existed before the economy collapsed.

That's not to say the four years of near-constant construction of the corridor hasn't caused some bellyaches along the way. Motorists, or perhaps local business owners, spray painted “Bring Back McLean” on some concrete barriers during one of the many lengthy road closures and detours involved in the construction process.

The impact of the Stearns Road Bridge has also been a major point of contention for residents opposed to the construction of a proposed Red Gate Road bridge in St. Charles. Some residents believe the Stearns Road bridge will make a Red Gate Road span an expensive, superfluous river crossing.

Those controversies won't rain on Kane County's celebration of the Stearns Road corridor when it opens. Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay and former Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert long lauded the project as a major transportation improvement for the area in both seeking funding and seeing the project through to fruition. In seeking federal and state funds, county officials also pointed out the project's ability to create more than 200 temporary construction jobs at a time when unemployment in the industry was at crisis levels. And, even though the corridor is expected to see more traffic thanks to the improvements, McConnaughay has labeled the project an environmentally-friendly success.

“Through the provision of federal, state and local funding and the efforts of many resource agencies and others, we were able to develop a new bridge corridor that will also reward the region with 216 acres of new open space, restored native prairie, an oak savanna and wetlands for the enjoyment of generations to come,” McConnaughay said in a recent news release. “The project interconnects the major environmental sites within the corridor through newly-created public access and linkages to the areas including 7 new miles of multiuse trails and a new multiuse path bridge over the Fox River. The result is an environmental corridor that happens to have a road in it.”