Overhaul planned for Route 20/McLean area in Elgin

The state is planning a major road reconstruction of the perpetually congested area near Route 20 and McLean Boulevard in Elgin.

Planning is under way for a $53.9 million project that would convert the diamond-shaped intersection with two stoplights to a “single-point urban interchange,” where only one traffic signal under the Route 20 overpass is necessary to control traffic from off ramps and onto McLean.

The state has had surveyors on scene and approached property owners nearby to purchase their land for the project, which includes a widening of Route 20 and the addition of two exit ramps.

Some advance construction and land acquisition will take place next year, with construction expected to begin in 2012 and completed two years later, according to Guy Tridgell, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

In a single-point urban interchange, exit ramps will converge at one point under the main road's bridge, and cars wait at one stop light. The most recent IDOT project installing such a system was at Route 41 and Grand Avenue/Route 132 in Gurnee, Tridgell said.

Tridgell said the project also includes:

• A widening of McLean to a four-lane, divided roadway between Fleetwood Drive and Lillian Street, with turn lanes at all major intersections.

• Realignment of the Weld Road and Shepherd Drive intersection to remove the existing sharp curve.

• Widening of the McLean and Fleetwood intersection, and the addition of a traffic signal.

• A shared bike path on both sides of McLean.

• Modernization of Lillian to enhance traffic flow.

• Construction of three concrete retaining walls.

Tridgell said construction will be done in stages so McLean and Route 20 can remain open at all times.

Some local businesses have already started packing up, including One Hour Cleaners, located in a strip mall at 315 S. McLean Blvd.

Owner Sun Yi, who has operated the cleaners with her husband for nearly 20 years, has been telling customers they must pick up their clothes by Wednesday. She said she doesn't know where she'll move the business.

The building's owner, Mike Dimiceli, said he's in the process of selling all his property to the state. The lane widening on McLean would take 20 feet of the strip mall's front parking lot.

“The amount of the parking lot they would be taking wouldn't be enough to have a business there,” he said. “The edge of the street will be right at the front of building.”

His building, likely to be demolished, also includes a loan office and a vacant storefront.

Next door is the Alpha One Realtors office, 321 S. McLean Blvd., which is located just feet from the street in its current configuration.

Co-owner Don Potuznik said the building is more than a century old and had been converted from a house into an office.

He said he's seen surveyors on site for more than a year.

Tridgell said the state is purchasing entire properties in some locations, but most acquisitions will require only partial purchases. He wouldn't comment on individual parcels.