More speed limit reductions could be coming to McHenry County

Drivers on a few McHenry County roads could be required to slow down before the weather turns.

The McHenry County Transportation Committee is reviewing three speed limit reductions on county roads Wednesday morning. With new rules in place at the county board, all of the changes are expected to come before the full board, even if the committee votes no.

The proposed speed limit reductions include:

• Ridgefield Road east of Route 14 and west of Country Club Road near Crystal Lake. The proposal is to lower the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph. An adjacent stretch of Ridgefield Road has a 45 mph speed limit, according to county documents.

• Main Street from Wilmot Road to State Park Road in and near Spring Grove. The speed limit is currently 45 mph and could drop to 40 mph if the speed limit reduction goes through. The speed limit is currently 40 mph on Main Street west of the segment and 45 mph on State Park Road southeast of the segment.

• Charles Road from Route 120 to Route 47 near Woodstock. The speed limit could be lowered from 55 mph to 50 mph if the reduction is approved. The speed limit is 55 mph on Charles Road west and east of that stretch.

The Charles Road vote comes as the McHenry County Division of Transportation is looking at other potential safety improvements in the corridor, especially in and near the intersections of Queen Anne Road and Greenwood Road/Route 120. Officials are looking at changes such as converting the intersections to roundabouts, signalizing the Route 120 intersection, adding turn lanes at the Queen Anne Road intersection or realigning Charles Road near the intersection to reduce intersection skew, according to county documents.

The county held public meetings on the Charles Road project earlier this year. According to the county website, Phase 2 of the project is expected to start next year, with construction anticipated to kick off in 2026.

Phase 1 on the project stared in 2021. Phase two involves design and any land acquisition, while phase three involves construction, according to the Charles Road corridor project website, charlesroadcorridor.com/.

Currently, the Charles Road-Greenwood Road-Route 120 intersection is a four-way stop, with Charles Road coming in from the west, Greenwood Road coming in from the north and Route 120 coming in from the south and east. All four points require drivers to stop, but drivers approaching the intersection from the south don’t have to stop if they’re turning right to stay on Route 120. At the Queen Anne Road intersection, Queen Anne Road has stop signs while Charles Road drivers can drive straight through without stopping.

New rules the county board adopted in July will also change what the speed limit reduction process looks like. Under the new rules, the full county board will take a vote on the proposed speed limit reductions, regardless if they passed at the transportation committee. The changes the Transportation Committee will review Wednesday morning are the first ones since the new rules took effect.

Before, if the transportation committee chose not to advance a speed limit reduction, that would be the end of the road for the change.

Speed limit reductions are typically placed on 30-day review when they get to the county board. With the proposals expected to come before the board next month, it would likely be November when the full county board takes a vote on them.