Klasen Road Re-Opens, Virginia Closes as Route 31 Widening Project Continues

The good news is that Klasen Road in Algonquin will re-open Monday after being closed since June 25 as part of an ongoing construction project. 

The bad news: Route 31 at Virginia Road will close as the McHenry County Division of Transportation begins construction on a new intersection. That work is expected to take four weeks to complete. Detour information is available in a MCDOT brochure. 

Also on Monday, stage two of the $8.5 million widening project along Route 31 will begin and traffic will be shifted to the new pavement on the east side of Route 31, according to a McHenry County Division of Transportation press relase. 

The construction project includes work to a 1.34-mile stretch along Route 31 and improvements to the intersections of Route 31 and Klasen Road and Route 31 and Virginia Road. 

Access to businesses along Virginia Road and Trinity Drive will be maintained through Trinity Drive at all times, according to the news release.

MCDOT encourages drivers to take extra caution in that area as drivers will be getting used to the new traffic patterns.  

Details on improvements to Route 31 at Virginia Road and Route 31 at Klasen Road include: 

• Route 31 will be widened and reconstructed to provide two through lanes in each direction. Roadwork will be done to 1 1/3 miles along Route 31 from about two-thirds of a mile south of Klasen Road to 1 1/3 mile north of Trinity Drive, according to the Illinois 31 project website.
• Specific left- and right-turn lanes at the Virginia Road and Klasen Road intersections will be added, according to the press release. 
• Virginia Road will be moved farther to the north, providing some distance between Klasen Road and Virginia Road. The two intersections are only .1 miles apart, and moving Virginia Road to the north is meant to improve safety.
• The Virginia Road and Route 31 intersection will be constructed as a 90-degree corner, said Mark Dammyer, project manager for the McHenry County Division of Transportation.
• New turn lanes and modernized traffic signals will be installed at both intersections, according to the news release. 

The southern portion of the project is meant to widen roadways and eventually will connect to