McHenry County moving forward on Algonquin Road safety improvements
Passing through several intersections along Algonquin Road will soon become a little less stressful.
McHenry County is poised to move forward on an agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation to begin making safety improvements at seven intersections along Algonquin Road through Huntley, Lake in the Hills, and Algonquin.
The project is scheduled to begin in March 2022 at the intersections of Algonquin Road and Haligus Road, Lakewood Road, Square Barn Road, Frank Road, Harvest Gate Road, Hanson Road, and Pyott Road, according to county documents.
Improvements also will be made at the intersection of Wilmot Road and Main Street in Spring Grove.
At each intersection, a flashing yellow left-turn light will be added. Traffic lights will also be interconnected, improvements will be made to crosswalks, along with other signal and design changes to make each intersection safer, according to the county.
The improvements at the intersections could address previous crashes at the intersections. A three-car crash occurred at the intersection of Algonquin Road and Haligus Road in 2019 after a vehicle failed to yield when turning left, according to police.
Three people were hospitalized in a Dec. 2020 crash when a vehicle turning left onto Harvest Gate Road from Algonquin Road was hit, according to police.
Other crashes have also occurred in 2021 at the intersection of Algonquin and Lakewood roads, including a rollover that required a woman to be cut from the vehicle and another that caused a motorcyclist to be ejected. Neither resulted in life-threatening injuries, however.
The project is estimated to cost $3.7 million, according to the county, from a combination of federal funds and funds from Rebuild Illinois - the state's 2019 capital plan.
A portion of the Rebuild Illinois funds will come from the state's motor fuel tax revenue, which was doubled in 2019 to help raise funds for the state's capital projects, according to the county.
The improvements will be voted on Wednesday by the McHenry County Board's transportation committee before going to a final vote from the board later in December.