Elgin looking at ways to ease Route 20 traffic on city's west side

Elgin is looking for ways to ease traffic congestion on Route 20 on the city's west side, but officials say an end to the daily backups is well down the road.

The Elgin City Council gave preliminary approval to an engineering services agreement with HR Green during Wednesday's committee of the whole meeting. The feasibility study would evaluate alternatives for the mile-and-a-half stretch of Route 20 between Longcommon Parkway and Coombs Road.

That stretch of the highway changes from two lanes in each direction to one at Longcommon Parkway.

The area where the lanes merge sees daily westbound delays that can stretch from Coombs Road back to beyond Randall Road. The city says the turn lane facilities are also inadequate and that it's difficult for residents to get on Route 20 from the adjacent subdivisions and commercial sites on the north and south sides of the highway.

The intersections at Longcommon Parkway and just further west at Nesler Road are also frequently the sites of accidents.

The road is under the Illinois Department of Transportation's jurisdiction. And while IDOT is preparing for other improvements on Route 20 in Elgin - including rebuilding the bridges at Route 31 and over the Fox River and safety improvements at other intersections - the state has no current plans or funding for expanding capacity along this stretch of the highway.

Director of Community Development Marc Mylott said there isn't a quick fix.

"This is going to take a while to get this done," Mylott said. "We're estimating 2027, 2028 if all went well."

IDOT says an average of 28,700 vehicles per day travel on the four-lane stretch between Randall Road and McLean Boulevard. That numberrops by only 3% to 28,000 vehicles on the portion of the highway between Randall and Nesler roads. From Nesler to Coombs, the average is 22,400.

The traffic on Route 20 drops by about half beyond Coombs Road, though the city expects that stretch of highway to see more traffic in the future with substantial development in the works on the far west side of town.

Public Works Director Mike Pubentz said getting the study done is an important first step in getting the ball rolling.

"If you have your Phase 1 started and the city has shown a commitment," Pubentz said, "it will help us in the ratings and the rankings and make it more likely that we get federal funding to help us do this."