Anger about the mess at Routes 31, 176 boiling over

CRYSTAL LAKE – After two years of work, a four-lane bypass around Algonquin and a roundabout on improved Johnsburg Road are done.

After almost a year and a half, the intersection of Routes 31 and 176 is not.

The Illinois Department of Transportation now predicts the project will be finished by the end of October. But frustrated business owners, residents and commuters call that projection extremely optimistic.

“Based on their progress to date, I just don’t see any way they’ll be done before the heavy [winter] weather,” said Tom Stall, a McHenry resident who commutes to his job in Crystal Lake.

The $10.2 million project is rebuilding the former five-way intersection, accommodating two lanes in each direction, dual left-turn lanes, dedicated right-turn lanes and new traffic signals. The work zone stretches for more than a mile on Route 31 and more than half a mile on Route 176.

Crosstown Auto owner Tom Snodden said the never-ending construction is hurting his business and others. His Route 31 shop is just south of the intersection.

“I’ve had customers say, ‘Tom, I’m sorry, but I’m not coming to see you until the intersection is done,’” Snodden said.

Utility relocation issues account for much of the delay, IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell said. This project included the relocation of utilities for AT&T, ComEd and Nicor.

“Oftentimes a lot of utilities have to be moved out of the way,” Tridgell said. “We always envisioned this as a two-season project, 2013 and 2014, but there was some delay in having the utility companies perform their work at the beginning.”

Work began in earnest in April 2013 with the closing of East Terra Cotta Avenue, the fifth road of the intersection. But records show that the project has been plagued from the onset by utility relocation problems.

The list of weekly project updates on Crystal Lake’s website through 2013 includes numerous references to “relocation issues” with utilities. The city is not involved with the project.

An August letter to the editor from Steven Powell, project manager for R.W. Dunteman, the Addison-based contractor in charge of the rebuild, mentioned another recent delay caused by Nicor having to relocate an 8-inch gas main for a second time because it was incorrectly installed.

“Regrettably, work was halted on this project, not by my firm’s choice, but because of another in a series of utility delays and conflicts that have pushed this project beyond its original completion date,” Powell wrote.

A 2012 Northwest Herald story first announcing the start of the project listed a tentative completion date of November 2013.

Residents Mike and Tina McEvoy said the traffic on Hillside Road where they live northwest of the project has gotten horrible because drivers take Terra Cotta Road – not to be confused with Terra Cotta Avenue – as an alternate north-south route. The McEvoys last week tried to bring the delay to the attention of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

“Essentially, Terra Cotta has become Route 31. Anyone with a brain in their head uses Terra Cotta to bypass that nightmare. Everything has been affected because of this ludicrous mess,” Mike McEvoy said.

The frequent lack of on-site work has become a running joke to the McEvoys, they said. It’s less of a laughing matter to Snodden, whose livelihood depends on access.

“That’s the frustrating thing – a shiny day when no one is [working],” Snodden said.

Tridgell reassured residents that the project will wrap up soon.

“We understand that construction can be an inconvenience. The good news is that we will be done fairly soon, and it will be a high-quality, high-performance and much safer intersection when we’re through,” Tridgell said.