May 21, 2024
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Walkability, traffic flow receive better marks from Algonquin residents

By Aaron Dorman
Work contains on the construction of the roundabout at the intersection of North Main Street and Cary-Algonquin Road, in Algonquin on Sept. 20, 2022. construction is 60 percent complete according to project website. Roundabouts are a big part of planning and the solution for traffic issues within McHenry County, there are half a dozen intersections where roundabouts are either planned or under construction and there are more sites that have been identified within McHenry County as being potentially suitable for roundabouts in the future. Data from Illinois Department of Transportation shows that roundabouts can significantly improve traffic and decrease both the number of accidents as well as the number of injuries and hospitalizations that occur when accidents do happen.

Projects, such as a completed roundabout at Main Street and Cary Algonquin Road in Algonquin – shown here in the late fall at roughly 75% completion – may have contributed to an increased favorability rating for traffic throughout Algonquin since 2020, according to survey results released by the village. (Gregory Shaver — gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver Shaw Media )

A growing number of Algonquin residents think getting around the village – by car, bike or on foot – was easier than ever in 2022, according to a village survey released last week.

Over 75% of respondents rated ease of walking and biking as good or excellent, showing an increase each year since 2020 and over the pandemic period, the survey results show.

While fewer respondents, roughly 60%, gave such favorable marks to car travel within the village, that represents a major increase from 2020, when fewer than 40% of respondents felt positively about car travel within the village.

Although less than half of respondents felt travel flow along major streets was favorable, that figure has also doubled since 2020, the survey results show.

In the survey, village officials note that Algonquin contains over 30 miles of pedestrian paths.

Last year, the village did work on the creek bed of Crystal Creek in preparation for a new riverwalk from Towne Park to Cornish Park, as well as a new bridge over the creek at Harrison Road.

Roughly 95% of respondents rated Algonquin, and their neighborhood within the village, as a good or excellent place to live, up 3 percentage points from the year before, Algonquin officials stated in the release.

“Making it easier to travel around our community is important,” Village President Debby Sosine said in the release. “Investments we’ve made to our local roadways and the completion of regional transportation projects will continue to have a positive impact on our community.”

The proposed budget for 2023-24, which is currently being developed, will propose additional funding to improve the Village’s transportation network, park facilities, and water and sewer system, officials said in the release.

Since 2012, ease of car travel and traffic flow on major streets have shown a 29% improvement in the survey results, officials said in the release, adding that employment opportunities within the village also increased by a similar amount.

Survey respondents showed an increase in traffic flow rankings last year as well. At the time, village officials credited those improvements to the completion of county work along Randall Road and the Illinois Department of Transportation’s repainting of the bridge over the Fox River at Algonquin Road.

The village recently completed a roundabout at North Main Street and Cary-Algonquin Road

The survey has been conducted annually for the past 11 years, measuring a variety of factors including quality of life, public safety, community development, and services, Algonquin officials said in the release.

A total of 14.5% of 1,750 randomly selected households responded to the survey this year, up slightly from 2021, the survey results show.

The 2022 Algonquin Community Survey Report and previous results can be accessed at algonquin.org/survey.