The Illinois Department of Transportation posted an update last month on the progress of the proposed widening of the IL 25 to 68 corridor of Route 62 in Barrington Hills. A copy of their report can be viewed and downloaded here.
Archive for the ‘Algonquin Rd’ Category
IDOT issues a brief update on IL Route 62
Posted in Algonquin Rd, Cook, County, IDOT, Kane, Politics, Taxes, Topics Of Interest on January 11, 2021| 1 Comment »
Board of Trustees meets tonight
Posted in Agendas, Algonquin Rd, Cellular Service, ePacket Agendas, Financial Reports, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, Roads & Bridges Committee, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on October 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »
The Village Board of Trustees will be holding their monthly meeting this evening at 6:30 PM. Some of the topics for discussion and/or vote include:
- An Ordinance Granting an Amendment to the Existing Special Use Permit for an Expansion of the Parking Lot at 160 Hawthorne Road
- An Ordinance Approving a Map Amendment Rezoning the Property Located at 32W 393 Algonquin Road from R1 Single Family Residence District to B-3 General Business District
- Resolution Authorizing the Village’s Execution of an Intergovernmental Agreement and Subrecipient Agreement with the County of Kane for Coronavirus Relief Funds
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. Those wishing to try to listing in on the meeting can phone 508-924-1464.
Related: “Mosque replica planned for 160 Hawthorne Road?” and “Kane County sending $27.5 million in federal relief to communities”
Bolz Rd. closed for 8-10 weeks starting tomorrow
Posted in Algonquin Rd, County, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, Road construction, Traffic on July 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Beginning tomorrow, July 8th, Bolz Road will be closed to traffic between Sandbloom Road and the entrance to the stone quarry for 8 to 10 weeks, weather permitting, to allow construction crews to safely and efficiently construct the new Bolz Road roadway realignment and install new watermain and storm sewer. Traffic will be routed around Bolz Road using Sandbloom Road, IL 62 and IL 25 as shown below:
Motorist are advised to watch for construction workers, construction vehicles entering or leaving the closed roadway, and obey flaggers and other traffic control devices bordering the work zone.
The full KDOT press release can be viewed and downloaded here.
Kane County Board defeats late amendments, locks in Longmeadow bridge toll
Posted in Algonquin Rd, County, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, Taxes on February 12, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Tolls along the Longmeadow Parkway will become a reality after a Tuesday morning vote by the full Kane County Board. The vote ensures completion of the newest bridge to span the Fox River in the far northern portion of the county. The bridge will open in 2022.
Kane County has its first toll bridge, though a last-minute amendment could have added tolls to two other county bridge crossings.
Tolls along the Longmeadow Parkway will become a reality after a Tuesday morning vote by the full Kane County Board. The vote ensures completion of the newest bridge to span the Fox River in the far northern portion of the county. The bridge will open in 2022.
That last-minute amendment came from county board member Chris Kious, who said the Longmeadow Parkway tolls represent an unfair cost to his constituents. He pointed to the Stearns Road and Fabyan Parkway bridges as two county projects that allow toll-free crossings.
“By passing this (toll), you are subjecting the residents of the northernmost part of this county to pay an extra tax/user fee for the use of this Kane County bridge, which they have to use to access each side of their own villages,” Kious said. “No other roadway in the county has such a toll.”
Read more here.
Villages, IDOT debate whether section of Algonquin Road needs widening
Posted in Algonquin Rd, Cook, County, IDOT, Kane, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, Public Safety, Roads & Bridges Committee, Village Government, Village President on July 31, 2019| Leave a Comment »
The village of Barrington Hills is making plans to improve the 5-mile stretch of Algonquin Road between Routes 25 and 68.
Algonquin Road, also known as Route 62, is being studied to determine whether it should be widened.
The project is in Phase 1, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2020. Phase 1 should cost about $3.5 million, said Guy Tridgell, director of communications for the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The improvements are in response to the construction of the Longmeadow Parkway Tollway Bridge, Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin said. The bridge will span the Fox River and connect Randall Road in the west to Algonquin Road in the east, increasing traffic by about 8,000 cars on Algonquin Road.
Read more from the Northwest Herald here.
Editorial: ‘Scenic parkways’ might be the road extensions of the future
Posted in Algonquin Rd, Cook, County, FPDCC, IDOT, Kane, OP/Ed, Topics Of Interest, Village Government on July 8, 2019| 1 Comment »
With an expansion of Algonquin Road through the Barrington area all be certain in the next few years, Barrington Hills is urging a different approach, and we hope the Illinois Department of Transportation continues to give it serious consideration.
As Bob Susnjara reported Monday, Barrington Hills is pitching the idea of turning Algonquin Road into a so-called scenic parkway, a roadway that would fit into, rather than obliterate, the bucolic, natural setting of northwest Cook County. Algonquin Road cuts through Spring Lake Forest Preserve on its way to the northern Fox Valley.
“It should kind of honor the open space, natural setting that the Cook County Forest Preserve is trying to maintain and what we’re trying to maintain in our community,” Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin told Susnjara.
This is a new approach, and one that reflects the increasing interest in preserving the environment of much of the suburban area — hand in hand, of course, with finding better ways to move frustrating amounts of traffic on a daily basis.
Continue reading the full Daily Herald editorial here.
IDOT is conducting a second IL62 Public Meeting tomorrow
Posted in Algonquin Rd, Cook, County, IDOT, Kane, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, Politics, Public Safety, Real Estate, Road construction, Taxes, Traffic on June 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »
The Illinois Department of Transportation will be conducting a second public meeting tomorrow, June 25th, regarding their, “Illinois Route 62 Phase 1 Study.” The meeting is scheduled from 4PM – 7PM at the Barrington Park District located at 235 Lions Drive, Barrington.
IDOT’s first public meeting on the topic was held November 9th, 2017, so clearly they are taking their time. For those wishing to review what was covered at that first meeting, click here.
Those wishing to explore IDOT’s website covering further information on their progress (or lack thereof), on plans to widen Algonquin Road to four lanes in Barrington Hills, click here.
Democrats, Lauzen relationship hits new low over Longmeadow Parkway funding
Posted in Algonquin Rd, County, Kane, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, Politics, Topics Of Interest on June 21, 2019| 2 Comments »
The injured relationship between Kane County Board Democrats and the board’s chairman, Republican Chris Lauzen, entered the week as a light sprain but left on crutches after Lauzen described recent Democratic lobbying efforts as “pathetic.”
The confrontation occurred during a meeting of the board’s legislative committee, which is co-chaired by Democrats Jarett Sanchez and Matt Hanson. The committee’s focus during the state budget process was securing about $45 million for the Longmeadow Parkway to avoid the need to for a toll bridge to complete the project.
There are still pools of money in the state budget not yet attached to specific projects, but no money has been earmarked for Longmeadow so far.
Read more here.
Summer Newsletter available
Posted in Algonquin Rd, BHPD, Heritage Fest, IDOT, Newsletter, Road construction, Topics Of Interest, Uncategorized, Village Board, Village Code, Village Director of Administration on August 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »
The Summer issue of News from Village Hall was recently mailed out to residents. Click here to read the issue online.
Topics include covered include announcement of the 6th Annual Hills Are Alive Fall Festival on Sunday September 30th, updates on the 2018 Road Program and the IDOT Route 62 study, news from the Police Department and much more.
Double double, toil and trouble: stirring the pot
Posted in 2015 Elections, 2017 Elections, 2019 Elections, 220, Algonquin Rd, Barrington Hills Farm, Bicyclists, Commercial Horse Boarding, Deception, Elections 2011, Elections 2013, Ethics, Heritage and Environs Committee, Hoffman Estates, Horse Boarding, IDOT, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Disconnection, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, Longmeadow Parkway, Organizations, Plum Farm development, Politics, Riding Club of BH, Save 5 Acres, School Districts, South Barrington, Topics Of Interest, Uncategorized, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Director of Administration, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on August 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Once again, supporters of former Village President Bob Abboud have taken to the social media networks to begin creating a false controversy to stir the pot prior to the 2019 Village Board Elections.
Recently, some Facebook pages have started publishing information about the proposed Plum Farms Development in Hoffman Estates. One of these pages is purportedly run by the same individual who publicly cast aspersions upon the character of the Village President and members of the Board of Trustees in April of 2017 (but was unwilling and unable to provide any corroboration of her ridiculous accusations). See April 24th Board meeting recordings released.
Long-time readers of the Observer will recognize the same tired tactics of the Abboud-o-philes: create a false controversy, then stir up resident sentiment against current leadership and against those whom they may support in the upcoming elections. Save 5 Acres! Save Horse Boarding! Ban the Bikes! Save Open Space! Save Polo!
The Plum Farms Development in Hoffman Estates was used as a major 2017 campaign issue by Trustees Paula Jacobsen and Robert Zubak, but both have been eerily silent on the issue for well over a year. As candidates, Jacobsen and Zubak were so adamant about the Village having legal standing, authority and ability to impact this development, and they vowed to be the voices to vigorously “oppose harmful development”.
Today, as it was then, they chose to remain ignorant to the simple fact that this issue was over in 2004 when Bob Abboud and former administrator Bob Kosin botched the chance to work with the landowner to come to a development compromise that would have kept the property within the village, and would have protected our community from the dangers of deannexation of the parcel into an adjacent town with an insatiable hunger for more tax dollars.
But in fact, the current administration has been working in concert with South Barrington and District 220 to slow the progress of this development. Strange that this hasn’t been reported by any of the social media outlets managed by those folks who enjoy stirring the pot. Accusations of inaction and mismanagement by President McLaughlin and others on the Board will be aired, but nary a word of criticism of Jacobsen or Zubak.
And speaking of Jacobsen, the more vocal of the less-than-dynamic duo, what has she personally done with regard to Plum Farms as a Trustee? Nothing. She bemoaned the Longmeadow Parkway project as a candidate, but did she volunteer to be on the IDOT advisory board for Route 62? Nope.
Does anyone remember the laundry list of issues that she & Zubak used as their campaign platform? We do.
The only issue they are truly interested in is commercial horse boarding, which wasn’t in their campaign platform at all. Strange…
And back to that lengthy list of issues — what have they accomplished from that list? Nothing. And why? Because none of those “problems” actually existed.
Paula Jacobsen with former trustee Fritz Gohl
However, Jacobsen, who has been absent from more than 26% of the fifteen Board Meetings held since she was elected as trustee, has had the opportunity to advocate for some other interesting issues. As stated in our previous articles, May and June 2017 Board meeting recordings released and July Board Meeting recordings released , she has found time to question the meeting minutes which characterized her friend’s public comments at the April 24thboard meeting as slanderous. She has questioned why the Village couldn’t have employed a warmer and fuzzier process to inform a property owner of their violation of a cease and desist order with regard to illegal demolition of a residence and violation of the tree ordinance. It should be noted that the property owner in that case was a prominent donor to her trustee campaign.
Jacobsen has pondered the complexity of the Exterior Lighting Ordinance and wondered if it shouldn’t be revisited and revised, oblivious to the divisive history of the ordinance. Coincidentally, her interest in lighting ordinance enforcement occurred only when another friend of hers had filed a complaint against a neighbor.
Paula has also suggested giving landmark status to historical homes in the village. When asked to explain who would be the arbiter of this distinction and the mechanics of implementation or enforcement, she had no suggestion.
She also has given detailed reports of Arbor Day plans by the Heritage & Environs Committee at no fewer than three meetings. Let’s hear it for the oak sapling giveaway!!
And there has been advocacy for costly live video-streaming of Village Board meetings, which are only attended by a handful of the same residents each month.
It is not surprising that NONE of these issues were in the Jacobsen/Zubak campaign platform and that NONE of the issues in the platform have been pursued by the duo in any meaningful way in the past fifteen months.
And why is that? Because a quiet village operating harmoniously is not something the Abboud-o-philes can tolerate. They must have controversy and they will create controversy were none exists. And when faced with the reality that President McLaughlin & this Administration have delivered on each and every promise they have made to the community, they pivot back to the old worn-out talking points. The village is operating better than it ever has, spending has been slashed and services are more efficient. And that makes some embittered people very unhappy. Change is not easy for some. And they are desperate to regain control.
So the pot stirring will continue. With a little eye of newt and toe of frog mixed in for good measure. Here’s hoping that this bad spell will be broken soon.
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