Woodstock starts work on roundabout near Square, set to begin 2022 road program soon

Multiple road projects will be taking place in Woodstock this summer, starting this week with months-long closure of the five-way intersection at South, Lake and Madison streets for the construction of a new roundabout.

The Woodstock City Council also is set to vote Tuesday evening on the contract for its $12.8 million road program for 2022, which could then begin this month, Public Works Director Christina Betz said. If approved as drafted, more than 20 roads in town would see work.

Roundabout at South, Lake and Madison

A roundabout at the five-way intersection of South, Lake and Madison streets has been in the works for several years to address safety and congestion concerns, Betz said.

“It’s a long time coming,” Betz said. “It’ll be a great addition to our community. ... We’re excited for it to start.”

Between 2011 and 2016, 21 crashes were recorded at the site, according to data provided by Betz.

Vehicle traffic near the intersection shows Madison Street with 3,000 daily vehicles, while South and Lake streets see 5,600 each, according to traffic counts from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

While residents and businesses in the area will continue to have access during construction, officials said it will be limited due to the complete closure of the intersection, according to the city’s website. Work could go on until December, but the city is hopeful it will be done sooner, Betz said.

The planned detour would be along Kimball Avenue to Dean Street.

Although this could result in projects butting up against each other as construction work is planned this year within the detour on both roads, including on Dean from Route 14 to Tryon Street and a small stretch of Kimball from South Street to Jefferson Street, city documents show.

Work on Dean also could be further complicated as it intersects with a section of Route 14 that is marked for resurfacing by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

While the plan to deal with those conflicting projects isn’t set in stone yet, the city has ideas of how to deal with the issue, such as rerouting the detour or even pushing Kimball’s work into the later window of the work period, Betz said.

“It’s a work in progress, … but we’ll have a plan in place,” she said.

The roundabout project dates back almost a decade, but issues with eminent domain and grant funding have pushed the project back multiple years. In January, IDOT bid out the project, with H. Linden & Sons Sewer and Water Inc. coming in with the lowest bid.

Construction will cost more than $2.7 million, with $1.5 million coming from a federal Surface Transportation Program grant the city received from the McHenry County Council of Mayors, according to Woodstock’s website. The remainder will be paid by the city, Betz said.

2022 road program

Woodstock’s road program includes more than 20 roads this year, which, if approved Tuesday, will see the city contract through Plote Construction.

If approved, work will include the reconstruction of about six miles of roads in town, as well as the resurfacing of two public parking lots at the corner of Throop and Jackson streets and the corner of Jefferson and Church streets, according to city documents.

Some of the busiest roads that will see work include the one-mile stretch of Dean starting at Route 14 and going to South Tryon Street, city engineer Chris Tiedt said in March. The work also will include new water main work.

“Dean Street is traveled by a lot of people,” Tiedt said. “A lot of people use it as a way to not have to drive on [Route] 47.”

The stretch of road sees anywhere from 3,200 to 4,300 vehicles travel on it every day, according to state traffic counts. With how busy the road is, Betz said she expects one lane will kept open on the road during work.

Other roads included in this year’s program are parts of Amber Court, Barn Swallow Drive, Bobolink Circle, Broadway Avenue, Bull Valley Drive, Club Road, Dieckman Street, East Beech Avenue, East Judd Street, East Kimball Avenue, Fair Street, Lucas Road, two different sections of McConnell Road, Moraine Court and Moraine Drive, Prairie Ridge Drive, Red Barn Court and Red Barn Road, Willow Brooke Drive and Winslow Avenue, according to city documents.

Delays and the level of closure these streets might see are not completely known at this time, Betz said.

Multiple construction crews are expected to work on various roads in town at once, Betz and Tiedt said. If the contract is approved Tuesday, residents can expect to see work being set up in the coming weeks, with work likely starting as soon as mid-May.

The total cost of the project is about $14.7 million, which includes $12.8 million for roads and a little less than $2 million in engineering costs, according to city documents.

Funds for this year’s program come from multiple pots, Deputy City Manager Paul Christensen said. That includes money from bonds, which are paid for through property taxes, and the capital improvement fund, which is predominantly funded through the city’s home-rule sales tax.

To help fund roads further, the city created a gas tax that started at the beginning of 2020.

The city’s road program is a five-year plan that will see more than $50 million invested in infrastructure over that time, Tiedt said.

Due to uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, that five-year plan, originally started in 2020, was delayed by a year. That makes this year’s road program the second of the five years in the plan, Tiedt said.

After the five-year plan ends, the city expects to return to an annual investment of $3 million in its roads, Christensen said.

Mayor Michael Turner said in March that he views roads as quality-of-life and economic development issues. He said he thinks the increase in taxes are worth the investment.

“[Roads] are an incredibly important issue to residents. It is the No.1 issue I hear about,” Turner said. “And understandably so because they’re in rough shape.”