$57 Million in Road Work Planned Across Western McHenry County

Orange barrels are coming. Four projects totaling $57 million will reshape driving across western McHenry County this season. Here is what to expect.

Root Road between Kishwaukee Valley Road and Tomlin Road in Marengo Township is getting a new surface. About a mile of fresh asphalt, 1.5 inches thick. Seven contractors submitted bids on March 4, and per the contract terms, equipment cannot roll before May 4. Funding comes from Motor Fuel Tax and township money.

Farther north on Marengo Road, IDOT has two projects confirmed in its two-year construction look-ahead. That means these are real, not placeholders in the longer-range program. The first is a pavement overlay from Airport Road to IL-23. The second is a bridge replacement at Rush Creek, about half a mile south. Together the two jobs total roughly $3.3 million. No public start dates yet for either one.

The biggest project is already underway. If you commute east on IL-47 to Crystal Lake, you already know. IDOT is tearing up and rebuilding the IL-47 and IL-176 intersection in Crystal Lake and Lakewood, realigning Pleasant Valley Road in the process. Plote Construction won the job at $50.4 million, nearly 90 percent of the area's total construction spending this season. The contract calls for completion by October 31, with daily lane closures until then.

One more to file away for next year. McHenry County plans to replace the Marengo Road bridge over Union Creek in Coral Township, a $4.5 million project that will widen the span for farm equipment and bicyclists, raise the roadway profile, and rebuild the approaches. When construction begins, the bridge closes for roughly nine months. The signed detour will route traffic along US 20 and Harmony Road.