Posted in Agendas, Algonquin Rd, Animal Welfare, Audio recordings, Barrington Hills Farm, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Equestrian Commission, Fox River Valley Hunt, FPDCC, FRVPC, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Massbach Hounds, Politics, Property Taxes, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Unions on September 7, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The Equestrian Commission will hold a special meeting this evening at 6:30 PM to review. The sole topic on their agenda is, “Village Equestrian Trails.”
A copy of their agenda can be viewed and downloaded here. Recordings from the August 19th, 2021, meeting (the most recent recordings available) can be found here.
Posted in Agendas, Algonquin Rd, Animal Welfare, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Big Red, Cell Towers, Conflict of interest, Deception, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Fox River Valley Hunt, FRVPC, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Massbach Hounds, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Unions, Village Government, Well Water Quality on August 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The Barrington Hills Park District Board will hold their regular monthly meeting this evening in person and via Zoom at 7:00 PM. Topics on their agenda include:
A copy of their agenda can be viewed here. Instructions for accessing the meeting remotely can be found here
*The Hills Are Alive Fall Festival returns to the Riding Center September 18th.
Posted in Algonquin Rd, Cook, County, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, Politics, Taxes, Traffic on March 12, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Cars travel east on Bolz Road near the Longmeadow Parkway’s new bridge that’s not done yet east of the Fox River. (Paul Valade | Staff Photographer)
Standing at the dead end of a private road just west of the new Longmeadow Parkway bridge over Route 31 is the convergence of all the love and hate for the decadeslong effort to create a new Fox River crossing in northern Kane County.
The private road ends with a panoramic view of some of the key improvements the 5.6-mile Longmeadow project brings. There will be less rush-hour traffic congestion, new business development, and access to the Cook, Kane and McHenry counties’ borders, all within minutes once construction ends.
But while overlooking that progress from the private road with a group of people wearing neon green Kane County Division of Transportation construction vests, there is the distinct feeling of being watched by some of the neighbors who long opposed the project.
“You have to kind of keep an eye out,” said county board member Drew Frasz. “Some of these people are not our biggest fans.”
That’s nothing new for Frasz. As chairman of the county board’s transportation committee, he’s spent the entire construction process defending the project and answering criticism, including from some of his fellow board members. To him, when the project is finished, it will be the culmination of the plans and desires of all the communities affected by it.
Driving the parkway, Frasz points to land set aside by community leaders in Algonquin and Carpentersville who envisioned a Longmeadow that fuels a new heyday for their communities.
Read more here.
Posted in Algonquin Rd, Cook, County, FPDCC, IDOT, Kane, Politics, Public Safety, Roads & Bridges Committee, Spring Creek Watershed, Taxes, Traffic on March 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »
In our last newsletter (December 2020), we described the additional analysis and evaluation required to select the preferred alternative due to the presence of federally listed threatened and endangered species: Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly and Rusty Patched Bumblebee. Over the last year, the project team has continued coordinating with agencies such as the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPDCC), the US Geological Survey (USGS), and the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) to conduct the Biological Assessment (BA). The BA analyzes and determines the project’s effect on these species and/or their critical habitat, and documents the measures taken to avoid, minimize, and/or mitigate the impacts.
Two critical elements of the BA are the groundwater monitoring and analysis, which will be completed in early 2022, and the prescribed burn of the Spring Creek Forest Preserve, which was completed in 2021. You may have also noticed crews trudging through the marshy areas along IL 62 in the late fall as shown in Figure 2 (below). These crews are delineating wetlands within the Spring Creek Forest Preserve to help better identify potential habitat for the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly within the study area. We anticipate the wetland delineation to be completed in the spring of 2022.
Once the BA is complete, the project team can continue analyzing the impacts of the two remaining alternatives and select a preferred alternative. While the two remaining alternatives are both 4-lanes, one has shoulders, and one has curb and gutter. After the preferred alternative is selected, geometric and drainage improvements, and non-motorized accommodations will be refined and presented to stakeholders.”
A copy of the update can be viewed and downloaded here.
Posted in Algonquin Rd, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Longmeadow Parkway, Public Safety, Traffic on December 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »
New traffic signals at the intersections of Longmeadow Parkway and Route 25 and Longmeadow Parkway and Bolz Road have been activated by the Kane County Division of Transportation.
Both sets of lights are part of the 5.6-mile Longmeadow Parkway, which begins at Huntley Road in Huntley, crosses through Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills, and ends at Route 62.
Some of the parkway is now open to traffic, but the toll bridge over the Fox River to Route 31 and the section of road from Route 31 east over the river to Route 25 remain under construction.
In October, Division of Transportation officials said delays have occurrec because of steel and semiconductor shortages, price increases for materials, and the removal of lead-contaminated soil found east of the bridge site, where an outdoor shooting range once was located.
Construction on the $115 million project began in early 2016 and the entire corridor is now planned to be open sometime in early 2022, according to the county transportation division website, kdot.countyofkane.org.
Read more from the Elgin Courier-News here.
Posted in 2021 Elections, 220, Algonquin Rd, Barrington Area Library, Barrington Hills Park District, Board of Education, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Deception, District 220 referendum, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, FPDCC, His Master's Voice, Horizon Farm, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Public Safety Committee, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Roads & Bridges Committee, School Districts, Topics Of Interest, VBHPD, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government, Village President, Your Barrington Hills on April 5, 2021| 1 Comment »
With so many candidates running for various offices, we’d like to remind readers of the candidates The Barrington Hills Observer wholeheartedly endorses:
Posted in Algonquin Rd, Cook, County, IDOT, Kane, Politics, Taxes, Topics Of Interest on January 11, 2021| 1 Comment »
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.
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:
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”
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.
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.
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