Route 31 Widening Under Way; Informational Meeting Thursday

An informational meeting on an $8.5 million road project under way at Route 31 and Virginia/Klasen roads will be held Thursday at the Algonquin Township office, 3702 U.S. Route 14, Crystal Lake. 

Representatives from the McHenry County Division of Transportation will provide an overview of the widening project, as well as inform the public about the construction schedule and how to stay informed during construction, according to a McHenry County Division of Transportation press release. 

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 11/3 miles along Route 31 from about two-thirds of a mile south of Klasen Road to 11/3 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

Utility relocation work is under way on the project. The Illinois Route 31 project website provided this timeline of roadwork: 

Spring 2012

• Temporary pavement will be built on the west side of Illinois Route 31 to shift traffic while work on east side begins to construct the new northbound lanes.
• Work to build the new alignment for Virginia Road will start.
• Klasen Road to be closed to through traffic but open for local traffic only.

Summer 2012

• Klasen Road to reopen.
• Traffic on Illinois Route 31 to be shifted to the newly built northbound lanes while the new southbound lanes are built.
• New Virginia Road to open to traffic while the old road is removed.

Fall 2012

• All traffic to move onto the new lanes on Illinois Route 31 and the median on Illinois Route 31 is to be built.

The Illinois Route 31 website has more information on this project as well as project updates.