Lake County's ninth roundabout near Wauconda opens early

The detour signs finally are gone as a new roundabout on Darrell Road near Wauconda has opened nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.

Darrell Road is on the far western side of Lake County and is used as a shortcut to routes 12 or 176.

This roundabout is the ninth in the Lake County Division of Transportation system. The $8.1 million project realigns the intersections of Darrell, Neville and Case roads. It's the first of three roundabouts to be built as part of the Darrell Road corridor improvement.

Some local roads intersect with Darrell at acute angles creating dangerous conditions and crashes, according to LCDOT.

Officials for years have been considering ways to address safety and an expected increase in traffic.

In the first part of the project, Darrell Road was rebuilt for 1.3 miles and Case Road realigned to create a four-way intersection with Neville Road and including a roundabout in the middle.

The other two roundabouts are scheduled for construction in 2024 pending project readiness. Dowell Road will be realigned to intersect with Darrell at a right angle and a roundabout. A third roundabout will be built at Fisher Road to the north.

A shared-use bike path on the east of Darrel, between Fisher and Case roads, also is part of the project.

Lake County's first roundabout opened in 2010 at Riverwoods and Everett roads near Lincolnshire.