McHenry County Board votes to lower speed limits on 3 roads

The McHenry County Board has voted to require drivers to slow down on a trio of roads, overriding two negative recommendations from the transportation committee and agreeing with a police chief who asked the board to lower the speed limit on a local road.

The county board voted to lower the speed limit on Blivin Street in Spring Grove between Route 12 and roughly ⅓ mile north of Route 12. It also lowered the speed limit on Pyott Road between Oak and Willow streets in Lake in the Hills.

Both proposals received a thumbs-down from the transportation committee last month, but all speed limit reductions now have to go before the full board.

A measure to reduce the speed limit on McConnell Road near Woodstock was amended at the committee level but passed both there and the full county board.

Lake in the Hills Police Chief Matt Mannino had expressed his support for lowering the speed limit on Pyott Road, and the county board agreed to lower it from 50 mph to 45 mph by a 9-8 margin.

The Pyott Road speed limit reduction failed at the committee level last year, which meant the end of the proposal under county board rules at the time. Under rules adopted last year, all reductions come before the full board.

The new speed limits are:

• 30 mph on Blivin Street in Spring Grove between Route 12 and a point about one-third of a mile north of Route 12;

• 50 mph on McConnell Road near Woodstock from Lily Pond Road to just west of Country Club Road;

• 45 mph on Pyott Road in Lake in the Hills between Oak and Willow streets.