Why Elgin wants to put a roundabout at Larkin Avenue and Airlite Street

Elgin plans to replace the intersection at Larkin Avenue and South Airlite Street with a roundabout to help traffic flow and eliminate complicated traffic signals that can be difficult to use.

“The intersection currently requires six lanes of traffic to navigate a complex, multiphase traffic signal with inefficient signal coordination being a specific challenge,” Public Works Director Mike Pubentz said. “This causes traffic flow problems and long wait times.”

A roundabout should allow for continuous traffic flow, significantly reduce wait times on both Larkin and South Airlite, and improve operations and efficiency at the interconnected intersections of Foothill Road and South Hawthorne Street, Pubentz said.

The Elgin City Council approved an agreement Wednesday to pay Hampton, Lenzini and Renwick Inc. an amount up to $449,755 to do first phase engineering for the project. Engineers will look at the preliminary studies and reports necessary to obtain state approval for the intersection’s proposed reconstruction, officials said.

Construction is expected to cost an estimated $7.9 million, $2.5 million of which will come from Surface Transportation Program funding through the Kane Kendall Council of Mayors, Pubentz said.

Elgin officials identified the need to build the roundabout in 2022, which will also require second phase engineering work before bids can be taken and construction started.

First phase work requires engineers to evaluate the intersection’s current setup and plan for how a roundabout will improve traffic flow and reduce delays, city officials said. A new traffic count will be done to update average daily usage numbers at the intersection, which in 2023 showed about 14,400 vehicles using it on Larkin Avenue, Pubentz said.

If all goes as scheduled, construction would begin in 2030.

Elgin has two other roundabouts being built at high-traffic areas.

The Route 20 and Reinking Road roundabout is about 80% complete, Pubentz said. Crews finished pavement removal a few weeks ago, requiring Reinking Road to be closed and eastbound traffic on Route 20 to be shifted to the center lane.

Work began in April and should be complete later this year, Pubentz said.

A smaller roundabout is planned at Highland and North Lyle avenues. Construction had been expected to start this year. But the contract approval was delayed when bids submitted to the Illinois Department of Transportation exceeded the cost estimate, he said.

“Rather than approve the award at the higher bid price, the city requested that IDOT rebid the project in November 2026,” he said.

As a result, construction is now scheduled for May to September 2027. The intersection will need to be closed for about 12 weeks, but area residents will have local access, Pubentz said.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The (Elgin) Courier-News.