You remember that old joke about the two seasons in Illinois, right? Winter and construction?
Well, winter has finally fled and construction (sometimes called summer) is upon us. It will not spare the Sun City area from its inconveniences.
First, the major road repair project. On June 9, the Main Street bridge over the Kishwaukee River will be closed in both directions so that the bridge and roadway can be repaired by the McHenry County Division of Transportation. The road is projected to be reopened on Aug. 8. This information was taken from an aerial map displayed on the division’s website and from conversations with Huntley Village Engineer Tim Farrell. Actual construction is scheduled to begin on or about June 15.
The bridge is about 2,000 feet east of Hemmer Road, near the Harmony Road campus of Huntley High School and Leggee Middle School, which will not be in session when this project is underway. Main Street is not only one of the main bus routes to and from the high school, it also is the main northern access route to and from Sun City. Community residents are advised by village and county transportation officials to use Del Webb or Dhamer Road access routes starting June 9. Traffic signals also will be installed this summer at the intersections of Hemmer Road at Main Street and Harmony Road. These intersections are about 1,000 feet apart.
Then there’s another major project. In August, when the Main Street project winds down, the Village of Huntley will launch a repaving and reconstruction of Del Webb Boulevard from Route 47 to Eakin Creek Court near Prairie Lodge. Del Webb will not be closed, but lanes will be reduced during the 2-3 months of this work, according to Farrell.
Finally, the west/north extension of Kreutzer Road, on the eastern edge of Sun City, will be finished and opened on June 15, according to Farrell. He said the final phases – the construction of a bridge that will take Kreutzer over the south branch of the Kishwaukee River near Tuliptree Lane in neighborhood 7, and building of berms and planting of trees near the vacant lot at the Tuliptree cul-de-sac, will be finished by June 15.
This isn’t all. The McHenry County website also reveals a long range plan to extend Main Street west of Hemmer and connect it with Harmony Road near the entrance to the high school campus.
