Bridge work near Huntley begins Monday

Renovation of the 53-year-old bridge along Main Street near Huntley will begin this weekend.

The bridge runs over the South Branch of the Kishwaukee River between Harmony Road and Coyne Station Road, one mile west of Huntley in unincorporated McHenry County.

Main Street, between Harmony Road and Coyne Station Road, will be closed to through traffic starting Monday, June 9, through Aug. 8. Local traffic will have access up to the bridge. Through traffic will detour using state routes 47, 176, 23, U.S. Route 20 and Harmony Road.

The existing bridge structure, built in 1961, will undergo a major rehabilitation, according to the McHenry County Division of Transportation.

"Typically, we would use federal funds for bridge replacement," said Wally Dittrich, MCDOT design manager. But since this is a smaller renovation project, the county is using $350,000 in local funds, he added.

"We're just taking off the top of it and doing a bunch of concrete repairs," Dittrich said. "It's still got a lot of life left in it. We just need to take care of it."

The asphalt wearing surface will be removed and replaced with a reinforced concrete wearing surface. The outer six feet of the existing concrete deck slab will be removed and replaced. Work also includes structural concrete surface repairs, installing new bridge railing and an approach pavement.

The bridge is just east of Huntley High School, where work on improvements to the entrance will be done this summer.

McHenry County also will be installing traffic signals west of the bridge, at the intersections of Marengo and Main Street and Hemmer and Harmony Road. The signals will alleviate traffic backups near the high school, Dittrich said.