Residents want a safer Plank Road in Sycamore, county says process likely can’t start until 2025

SYCAMORE – Some DeKalb County residents are calling on government officials to expedite a plan to rearrange the intersection of Plank and Lindgren roads in Sycamore – part of ongoing concerns some expressed about Plank Road’s history of crashes.

A Plank Road corridor study already is underway, County Engineer Nathan Schwartz said. Some residents who spoke out at a recent DeKalb County Board meeting, however, said they want a guarantee something will be done sooner rather than later about the problematic intersection. Major corridor Peace Road which runs north through DeKalb and Sycamore turns into Plank Road once drivers head east past Illinois Route 23 and into Kane County.

Kelsey Musich of Sycamore said she knows all too well what it’s like to have her life upended by a car crash. In 2007, her little sister died in a New Year’s Eve crash in Sandwich. Musich appeared before the DeKalb County Board on Jan. 18 on what she said was the behalf of many others who shared her concerns.

“I am here today as a concerned parent and spokesperson for the 200 residents who are concerned about the safety at the intersection of Plank and Lindgren roads in the northeast part of the county,” Musich said.

History shows prevalence of Plank Road crashes

The northeast part of the county, primarily Plank Road, among others, has for years garnered reputation for being dangerous for area motorists.

Days before Christmas 2019, a Cortland mother and her son were killed in an early morning crash after their car went off the roadway on Plank Road east of Lukens Road. Kal-el Sexton, 17, was a Sycamore High School senior, football star and homecoming king. His mother, Dalahn S. Colley, 46, was remembered as a doting parent.

In April 2014, DeKalb 20-year-old Tiffany Taylor was killed in a crash on Plank Road toward Moose Range Road after the car her brother Tyrus M. Taylor was driving left the road and crashed into a utility pole, authorities said at the time. The brother was charged with reckless homicide, aggravated driving under the influence, improper lane usage and failure to reduce speed following the crash. He pleaded guilty to reckless homicide Nov. 4, 2014, and was sentenced to 2½ years of probation and three months in jail, court records show.

Tyrus Taylor said during his 2014 plea hearing that he had been blinded by lights from a semi-trailer truck. His aunt, Anne Dakan, said the crash happened on a dangerous curve.

On Dec. 17, 2018, a semi-trailer truck overturned and lay across Plank Road between Moose Range and Lukens roads, closing the roadway for seven hours. On Jan. 16, 2022, an Elgin man was airlifted to a Rockford hospital and cited for driving under the influence after his car went off the road near the intersection of Moose Range Road and struck a tree, hitting a propane tank on the corner.

On Thursday, two cars - including one carrying a 2-year-old – collided on Plank Road near Moose Range Road because of what DeKalb County Sheriff’s officials said were icy road conditions following days of scattered snow showers.

DeKalb County sheriff’s records show 44 crashes occurred around Plank and Moose Range roads in a five-year period, most caused primarily by driving too fast for conditions or weather.

County residents urge faster progress

Among anxieties expressed by four DeKalb County residents who appeared before the board this month was a specific intersection on the roadway: Plank and Lindgren roads.

Musich and several other residents lamented that the intersection is the only way out of Sycamore Creek, the subdivision adjacent to North Grove Elementary School.

That residential area – which was built after the 2008 housing bubble popped – has seen more growth than anywhere else in the Sycamore Community School District 427 in the past 10 years, Sycamore school district officials said.

District officials also have said the growth has seen an uneven population surge throughout the city, making North Grove Elementary’s enrollment substantially larger than other schools. Overcrowding in North Grove also has prompted a district boundary study to better balance the school’s elementary populations, meaning area parents could see their children sent to other schools as soon as this fall.

That could mean more bus traffic on the already high-traffic road.

“When sitting at our subdivision entrance waiting for a gap in traffic, it’s almost impossible to see around the inbound turning lane cars while also patiently checking for new families waiting at the stop sign, on the north side of Plank [Road], to gun-it across the intersection to get their kids to school on time,” Musich said.

Schwartz said Plank Road has been under observation and review for years, going back to the county engineer who preceded him. As a part of those efforts, Schwartz said a few years ago the shoulders of Plank Road were widened and rumble strips were installed in an attempt to stem the number of crashes where vehicles went off the pavement.

In an email sent to County Administrator Brian Gregory on Jan. 11, Schwartz said “very few crashes have occurred at the intersection of Plank and Lindgren roads itself.”

“The serious crashes have occurred either north or south of the intersection,” Schwartz wrote.

Musich said she’s concerned about new drivers and school buses in the county navigating the roads, especially to and from North Grove Elementary.

“Buses have only one way in and one way out of our subdivision, and local traffic is trying to slow down while through traffic is speeding up,” Music said. “Buses are overwhelmed by this mess, and the separation of the traffic could be achieved by adding another subdivision connection or by creating additional walking paths for more access to school.”

In addition to general safety improvements, the Highway Department also is looking into what Schwartz called capacity issues along the Plank Road corridor. He said the study has been keying in on Plank and Lindgren specifically for a year.

He said any modifications to the intersection would need to fit within the overall plan for the corridor.

County documents show the current group of concerned residents called and emailed the Highway Department with concerns about Plank and Lindgren roads in March 2022. Officials met with the group the next month. Schwartz met with area homeowner’s associations in December and some of those residents spoke at the Jan. 18 County Board meeting.

Schwartz said DeKalb County recently was selected to receive $1.2 million in federal funds for a $1.5 million project, which could spur changes to the intersection.

“We are anticipating construction to occur 3-4 years after getting the federal funding committed to the project,” Schwartz wrote to Gregory on Jan 11.

Road improvement plans?

Mike Villalta, a former mayor of Los Banos, California, also called on county officials to address Plank Road safety concerns.

“I moved here from California to this beautiful community, and I have to tell you it is a beautiful community, and I made the right choice,” Villalta said. “My wife and I made the right choice. But I have to tell you, the last thing on my mind would be that I would have to get involved in a political action committee again. I didn’t want to do that so, but here I am here tonight, so please help us.”

Schwartz told Villalta that $150,000 was placed in the 2023 DeKalb County budget for a spot improvement on a county roadway, but Villalta noted during his public comments that the allocated money wouldn’t necessarily go toward the intersection of Plank and Lindgren roads.

Schwartz told the Daily Chronicle the highway department is waiting for the Plank Road study to be completed before moving forward with any particular spot improvement.

Villalta asked when public outreach would be held regarding the Plank Road corridor study. According to county documents, however, public outreach has been delayed by state bureaucratic processes.

In Schwartz’s Jan. 11 email, he told Gregory the county awaited state feedback regarding an environmental survey request.

“Because we will use federal funds for the Plank Road project, including any spot improvements such as the intersection with Lindgren Road, we are required to complete public outreach,” Schwartz wrote. “Presenting any project to the public without having all the details to share is not good practice.”

Although no county action was held Jan. 18 regarding Plank Road, County Board vice chair John Frieders told Villalta road improvements using state funds take time.

“This is a process,” Frieders said. “If you expect to get the state grant that they are seeking, you have to follow state of Illinois’ process. You cannot just jump ahead and expect to get that. And, as a mayor, you should know you have to follow a process.”

The Plank Road corridor study, including public outreach and recommendations to the County Board, is expected to be complete by mid-2023, according to documents. An engineering consultant is tentatively scheduled for hire in the summer to design the recommended spot improvement at the intersection.

Engineering work could take up to two years, documents show. Federal funding won’t come available until the second half of 2025, and potential construction projects wouldn’t open for bid until fall 2025 at the earliest.

Villalta told County Board Chair Suzanne Willis that he requested expedited Plank and Lindgren road improvements six months ago, but alleged he was shut down by Frieders, who was board chairman at the time.

Frieders said he thinks the crux of the issue comes down to the behavior of drivers.

“A lot of these issues would be solved if the people who travel this road continually – day after day after day after day – would just slow the hell up,” Frieders said. “That is the major issue of it, but they don’t seem capable of doing that.”