One dead in traffic-snarling accident on Rt. 20

An Elgin man was killed in a crash at 6 a.m. Wednesday on Route 20 at Shales Parkway in Elgin, forcing the closure of the road for five hours and snarling traffic while investigators figured out the chain of events.

The crash occurred in the industrial area on Elgin's southeast side where numerous traffic accidents have occurred in recent years.

Luis Ramirez, 54, of Fulton Street, was pronounced dead after his 1998 Dodge Neon was struck head-on by a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer that swerved to avoid hitting a dump truck that suddenly pulled in front of it, police said.

"The woman driving the pickup was traveling eastbound, Ramirez's Neon was westbound and both were going through the intersection on a green light," according to Elgin police spokeswoman Ann Dinges.

Both the Neon and the pickup truck ended up in a ditch at the side of the road.

The driver of the pickup suffered a minor leg injury, and the horse in the trailer was unhurt.

No citations were issued, and Elgin police now are looking for the red dump truck.

Closure of the intersection meant Wednesday morning rush-hour traffic was forced from Route 20 onto Route 31, which has been closed to only one lane near the north and south borders of the city due to resurfacing of the road.

Add to the mix the resurfacing of Route 25, an accident at Summit Street and Shady Oaks Drive and Elgin crews clearing side roads of debris from Tuesday afternoon's storm, and the result was many people who were late for work Wednesday morning.

At one point, traffic on northbound Route 31 stretched from Sundown Road in South Elgin to National Street in Elgin.

It took Assistant Kane County State's Attorney Jonathan McKay an hour to drive from Geneva to Elgin using Route 31, about twice as long as normal.

Elgin accounting supervisor Eric Bahe said it took him 50 minutes to drive from Hampshire to Elgin, 20 minutes longer than usual.

"The city set aside $35,000 five years ago for traffic signal improvements at the intersection," city spokeswoman Sue Olafson said. "The Illinois Department of Transportation maintains three of the four roads into the intersection and they keep postponing the work there."