Get there early: 8-hour waits in Woodstock as driver services facilities reopen

The best part of Jacob Freitag's eight-hour wait at the Woodstock Secretary of State Facility came about 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Tom Freitag, Jacob's father, held his spot in line to take a driver's test, while Jacob went to their vehicle for a Zoom conference with Huntley High School's wide receivers. Jacob, who will be a junior at Huntley this fall, started at defensive back for the Red Raiders last season.

"We're multi-tasking," Tom Freitag said. "It's a lot [to wait], but when you think about it, it's only the second day they're open, so I expected it."

The Freitags, who live in Algonquin, arrived at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday to get in line, armed, like many others, with a chair.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker shut down most businesses in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state's driving facilities were among the places closed, meaning a lot of young drivers could not finish their required behind-the-wheel hours, and forcing an almost three-month backlog of drivers who could already have taken their tests.

"We came here yesterday at 7:30, but one of the cops just told us to go home because there were so many people," said Jacob Freitag, who now will be able to drive his truck that has been sitting in the driveway.

By shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, workers at the Woodstock office had told people the same thing.

Adam Kehoe of Wauconda went to facilities in Lake Zurich and Woodstock on Tuesday and could not get his son, Carson, in for a driving test. They arrived in Woodstock at 5 a.m. Wednesday and Carson finished his test at about 12:30 p.m.

"His buddies were in line ahead of him yesterday and they counted people and said, 'If you're beyond this line, waiting to drive, you're not going to be able to go,'" Kehoe said. "We tried to get in here and missed the cut. We learned our lesson, we woke up at 4 and came here. His cousin [Jacob Baun] is here too."

Carson Kehoe had waited since his birthday on April 9 to get his license, but eventually it was worth it. As he walked inside the facility with his instructor, he gave Adam a thumbs-up.

"We did breakfast [in line] and now we'll get a celebratory lunch," Adam Kehoe said.

Illinois Secretary of State spokesman Dave Drucker asks residents to be patient when they come in. The facilities were closed for about 10 weeks, so it will be slow at first while they catch up. He urges people to use cyberdriveillinois.com for whatever services they can. License plate stickers and annual registrations can be done online.

"We did almost 900,000 stickers online," Drucker said. "It's very simple. You can do that in the convenience of your home. If you need a duplicate driver's license, and have a safe driving record, you can do that online as well."

Drucker said facilities have expanded their hours, Woodstock's office goes from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The facilities currently want to prioritize new drivers, expired licenses and vehicle transactions, although Drucker said people with expired licenses need not worry immediately.

"Licenses, stickers and IDs don't expire until Oct. 1," Drucker said. "We would strongly encourage people to sit back a little bit and wait and see, hopefully the lines are going to get shorter and they'll have an easier time at the facility. We knew everything was going to be crowded."

Employees at the facilities are all wearing face masks. Those giving the driver's tests also wear shields. Drucker stressed that the facilities are taking every precaution to remain safe.

Patricia Breseman, of Crystal Lake, needed to renew her license while her daughter, Maya, planned on getting her permit. They still had a long wait ahead about 1 p.m. Wednesday.

"I don't know why they closed," Patricia Breseman said. "Why couldn't they have kept it open and done the same safe practices everybody else did?"

Maya Breseman turned 15 in October and now will be a little later getting her license. New drivers must have permits for nine months before they can take their test.

Patricia Breseman applied a little sunscreen on her face and prepared for the rest of the afternoon.

"I had different plans for today and was like, 'I'm not waiting for 5 hours,'" Patricia Breseman said, chuckling. "And here I am."