Algonquin Road extends through Huntley by 2012 plan projects

Algonquin Road will extend two miles past Route 47 into western Huntley by 2012 under a $247.8 million, five-year road plan approved by the county board Thursday.

The long-awaited Algonquin Road extension aimed at easing traffic congestion around the village's downtown is one of several big-ticket items included in the plan, an annually produced outline of the county's pending road projects.

The $14.4 million project's inclusion in the plan is welcome news in Huntley, where the concept of expanding Algonquin west to Brier Hill Road has been discussed for more than a decade.

"We've been working with county elected officials and staff trying to make the extension a reality," Village Manager Dave Johnson said. "It's needed."

The extension is one of 85 projects in the five-year plan, a list that includes along with the $32.7 million expansion of Rakow Road from Route 31 to Ackman Road, more than $28 million in bridge improvements and pre-construction engineering work for adding lanes to Randall Road.

Overall, the plan calls for about $50 million more in spending than the one approved a year ago. Funding for the work comes through state and county motor fuel taxes and federal sources.

Other notable projects in the southeastern portion of the county include a realignment of the Route 31 intersection at Virginia Road and the addition of ramps to and from the west at the Interstate 90 and Route 47 interchange. The latter project, expected to cost about $67.7 million, is being funding primarily by the state.

The five-year program also calls for construction of the oft-delayed Western Algonquin Bypass to begin in 2013, but Jason Osborn, principal planner for the McHenry County Division of Transportation, said that largely depends on whether funding for the $68 million project is included in the state's next capital bill. The state recently starting the process of buying land surrounding the bypass route is a good sign, he said.

"Given that they have approval of first phase engineering and are acquiring right-of-way, 2013 seems reasonable," he said.

Beyond new construction projects, the plan calls for millions of dollars in maintenance work and an increase in salt and snow removal materials from $675,000 last year to $1.6 million this year. Snow removal materials alone will cost the county $34 million over the next 22 years, the plan projects.

"We hope prices go down on salt, but from the program's standpoint we should be prepared to purchase salt at the higher prices that we've seen the past couple years," Osborn said.