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Archive for the ‘Longmeadow Parkway’ Category

Will McHenry County help bridge financial gap on Longmeadow? Officials aren’t sure.

Posted in BOHICA, Cook, County, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, McHenry, Politics, Property Taxes, Taxes on May 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Bridge To Nowhere

McHenry County officials might consider a request to contribute financially to Kane County’s Longmeadow Parkway project. (Rick West | Staff Photographer)

While Kane County hopes its neighbors will help foot the bill for its Longmeadow Parkway project and keep it from becoming a tollway, some officials in McHenry County are hesitant about what’s being asked.

Kane County officials have asked neighboring McHenry and Cook counties to each front $1 million for the project, which spans more than 5 miles in the northern part of Kane County and passes through Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills.

Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog recently told county board members she believes a combination of state money, COVID-19 recovery money and those contributions will pay off the bond the county issued to pay for Longmeadow’s construction.

McHenry County Board member Michael Skala, a Huntley Republican who heads the county board’s finance committee, said he isn’t sure where McHenry County would find that money.

“We’d have to figure out where to get it,” Skala said. “It’s a tough sell, especially when you have 18 board members.”

McHenry County Board Chair Mike Buehler, a Crystal Lake Republican, said Monday it wouldn’t be unprecedented for the county to contribute to projects outside of its boundary, citing the nearly $46 million Randall Road construction project from a few years ago.

More here.

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Kane County explores going big on lobbying

Posted in Algonquin Rd, County, FUBAR, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, Politics, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest on May 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Chair, other leaders want to spend $240K

LMP

Kane County started experimenting with lobbying after the election of county board Chair Corinne Pierog. The result was millions of dollars in state funding for the Longmeadow Parkway project.

Perhaps spurred by recent success in wrangling enough state funds to wipe out the need for a toll on the Longmeadow Parkway, Kane County officials are contemplating their largest investment of taxpayer dollars toward lobbying at the state and federal levels.

Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog recently told county board members she believes a combination of state money, remaining COVID-19 relief money and cash contributions from neighboring counties will pay off the bond the county issued to pay for Longmeadow’s construction. But that’s only if $12.5 million for Longmeadow stays in the proposed state budget through the final vote.

“Fingers crossed,” Pierog told the board’s legislative committee. “I could not be happier.”

Getting that money into the state budget for Kane County is a result of lobbying efforts by Pierog, county board members and a private lobbying firm the county hired.

But the use of lobbyists by the county is a touchy subject with a history that goes back through at least the previous two county board chairs.

A previous board moved to eliminate lobbyists from the county budget in the waning tenure of former county board Chair Karen McConnaughay. Several board members didn’t like the political ties McConnaughay had with the lobbying firm the county used at the time.

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‘With fire in my belly’ to avoid toll, chair to urge Longmeadow funding from other counties, state

Posted in County, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, Politics, Taxes on March 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Bag Lady

Kane County Chair Corinne Pierog says she will focus her near-term efforts on pushing for a combination of state and county funds to eliminate a toll for the Longmeadow Parkway.

The next few months may decide the ultimate fate of the toll portion of the Longmeadow Parkway.

Kane County Chair Corinne Pierog said during a virtual state-of-the-county address Friday she will focus her near-term efforts “with fire in my belly” on pushing for a combination of state and county funds to eliminate the toll before the entire parkway opens to traffic.

Soil contaminated with lead is the only remaining delay in finishing the 5.6-mile corridor on the northern end of Kane County.

Kane County Division of Transportation officials have a new plan to clean up that dirt and finish the project by the fall of 2024. If more money for Longmeadow is found by then, it will become the only locally operated bridge with a toll in the entire state.

The toll was planned because Kane County officials couldn’t get enough state or federal funds in the ramp-up to construction to avoid borrowing money, via a bond, to fund the project. The total bond payment is about $35 million.

The bond seemed to make the need for a toll to pay off that debt inevitable after county officials failed to squeeze any more cash out of the state to pay off the bond as construction began. But state lawmakers included $17.5 million for Longmeadow in the current budget.

Read more here.

Related: “$14 million lead contamination plan would open Longmeadow Parkway next year”

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Work to remove lead-tainted soil that’s delaying finish of Longmeadow Parkway to start this spring, officials say

Posted in County, Going green, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Kane, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, Plan Commission, Politics, Real Estate, Road construction, Topics Of Interest on March 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

LMP Lead

Completion of the Longmeadow Parkway Corridor, which runs from Huntley Road in Carpentersville to Route 62 in Barrington Hills and includes the new toll bridge over the Fox River seen here, has been delayed by the need to remove lead-contaminated soil in the project’s final phase. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)

Removal of the lead-contaminated soil that’s held up completion of the $115 million Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor is to begin this spring, Kane County Division of Transportation officials said.

The 5.6-mile regional road, which runs from Huntley Road in Carpentersville to Route 62 in Barrington Hills and includes a new toll bridge over the Fox River, is partially open but completion has been at a standstill because of the 60,000 cubic square feet of tainted dirt that requires special removal and disposal.

Kane County Board members approved a new contract in February under which the soil will be treated on site before it’s disposed of, said Steve Coffinbarger, division of transportation assistant director.

“We’ve made progress,” he said. “We’ll get started on that this spring.”

Once that work is finished in spring 2024, they can accept bids for the last stage of paving work needed, Coffinbarger said. If all goes according to plan, the entire roadway — including the bridge — will be open before the end of 2024, he said.

County and state officials have known there was contaminated soil on the site for decades. The former owner of the gun range site has been working with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to remove the lead, Coffinbarger said.

Read more here.

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$14 million lead contamination plan would open Longmeadow Parkway next year

Posted in Longmeadow Parkway, Plan Commission, Resident Spotlights on January 18, 2023| 1 Comment »

LMP

Cleanup would allow Longmeadow Parkway to open next year. (Paul Valade | Staff Photographer)

The Longmeadow Parkway project will not open to traffic in 2023, but Kane County officials believe they now have a solution to, literally, get the lead out.

The county board’s transportation committee gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a $14 million contract with Bartlett-based Bluff City Materials Inc.  to remove a mound of lead-contaminated soil just beyond the eastern edge of the Brunner Family Forest Preserve.

The $135 million Longmeadow project saw decades of planning to create a new crossing of the Fox River, ease traffic congestion and spur development on the northern end of the county. The project moved forward, despite late opposition from residents along the construction path, which bisected the Brunner Family Forest Preserve.

The project is funded through a mix of bonds and government funding, including some state money that might reduce, if not eliminate, the toll bridge aspect designed to pay off the bonds and support future maintenance.

The project is complete except for a small stretch just east of the Fox River. A pile of soil contaminated with lead sits there. Figuring out what to do about the lead has delayed the project’s completion for the past two years.

Read more here.

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Economic partnerships, Longmeadow completion on tap for 2023 in Kane County

Posted in County, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, Taxes, Topics Of Interest on January 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

LMP

The long-awaited completion of the Longmeadow Parkway should arrive this year. Now county leaders are working to pay off the debt that helped fund it. (Paul Valade | Staff Photographer, 2022)

Kane County will see many economic initiatives come to fruition or continue to advance in 2023, Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog said.

They include regional economic planning grants to pay for the Longmeadow Parkway so it does not need to be a tollway, the development of workforce housing, support for small businesses and more electric vehicle charging stations.

As the Longmeadow Parkway on the county’s north side nears completion, the next step is to pay off the debt that helped fund it, Pierog said.

“Because of its regional nature, we were able to lobby the governor and … the allocation of $17.5 million should be coming through shortly to pay down the bond,” Pierog said. “We are advocating for another $17.5 million. We are actively working with our legislative partners and other counties to work on bringing down the rest of that bond so we won’t have to have a toll bridge.”

Read more here.

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Park District Advisory Committee meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, Algonquin Rd, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, BH Polo Club, Countryside Elementary School, Elections, Fox River Valley Hunt, FPDCC, Horizon Farm, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Uncategorized, Unions on January 3, 2023| 1 Comment »

BHPD New Masthead

The Barrington Hills Park District Advisory Committee meets this evening at 7PM. The primary topic of discussion is, “Explore possibility of a better time for Riding Club on weekends (as opposed to?).”

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.  Instructions for attending the meeting via Zoom can be found here.

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Three-vehicle crash on Algonquin Road in Barrington Hills results in no injuries

Posted in Accidents, Longmeadow Parkway, VBHPD on June 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »

VBHPD Car

A three-vehicle crash along Algonquin Road near Longmeadow Parkway reduced traffic flow to one lane Monday morning, but caused no injuries, officials said.

The crash took place sometime before 9:15 a.m. Monday in the Kane County portion of Barrington Hills, with one vehicle in the road of the northwest-bound lane. Officials with the Barrington Hills Police Department were directing traffic, allowing one lane of vehicles to pass at a time.

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Barrington Hills Park District Advisory Committee meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, Barrington Hills Polo Club, BraveHearts, Cell Towers, Fox River Valley Hunt, FRVPC, FUBAR, Horizon Farm, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Longmeadow Parkway, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, The Other Half, Transparency, Unions on May 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

hereBHPD New Masthead

The Advisory Committee to the Barrington Hills Park District Board meets this evening at 7:00 PM.  Some of the topics on their agenda include:

  • New At Large Alternate/Representatives/Election of new AC Chair
  • Open Meetings Act Training
  • Installation of fencing and gates between Riding Center and Bateman Road

A copy on the agenda can be viewed here.  Residents are invited to participate via Zoom, and the instructions can be found here.

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Toll building, equipment to be installed for Longmeadow bridge next week

Posted in County, Kane, Longmeadow Parkway, McHenry, Taxes, Traffic on April 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

LMP Toll

Construction resumes this coming week on the Longmeadow Parkway toll bridge over the Fox River.

A building needed to collect tolls is scheduled to be delivered Thursday, April 28, which will be followed by the installation of toll equipment, gantry and signs on April 29 and 30, according to Mike Zakosek, Kane County Division of Transportation chief of design.

“What remains (to be done after that) is the mitigation of soil and completion of the final section of roadway,” Zakosek told the Kane County Board’s Transportation Committee meeting this week.

The final portion of the road runs from Sandbloom/William Road east to Route 25. Other than that section and the bridge, about three-fourths of the 5.6-mile Longmeadow Parkway, which starts at Huntley Road in Dundee Township, west of Randall Road, crosses through Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills and ends at Route 62, is complete.

Local legislators have been trying to secure money from the state to pay for the bridge, and were able to earmark $17.5 million in the 2022-23 Illinois budget. The county will need to obtain another $17.5 million to repay the total debt and eliminate the need for a toll.

“There will be some time to really understand how to facilitate these funds,” county Deputy Director of Transportation Tom Rickert told the committee this week. “We’re working toward that $35 million so that we can fully get rid of the toll.”

More here.

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