Pingree Grove approves traffic signal study

Plans to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Reinking Road and Route 72 in Pingree Grove are moving forward, although it likely won’t be operational for two more years.

On Monday night the village board awarded a $20,000 contract for a traffic signal design study to Lintech Engineering, of Algonquin, said Interim Village Administrator Bill Barlow.

The study will be funded as part of $1 million the village was given by Cambridge Homes for road improvements at the intersection, he said. Cambridge built the two subdivisions that meet at that intersection.

“People scoot across (Route) 72 back and forth over there, so a traffic light is really needed,” Village President Wyman “Clint” Carey said. The village first approached the Illinois Department of Transportation about installing a traffic light three or four years ago, he said.

IDOT had initially requested a five-lane cross section intersection. After the village and Cambridge submitted a traffic study showing that a three-lane intersection would be enough, IDOT approved plans to build one with a dedicated left-turn lane, Barlow said.

The project will likely take two constructions seasons. “There is a lot of work to be done,” Barlow said.