W. Dundee plans overhaul of critical intersection
A driver on a side street pulls up to a busy regional road. The driver checks two lanes of oncoming traffic to the left; two lanes to the right. Both sides look clear -- at least as far as the driver can see up the hill.
He guns it, hoping his 2000 Honda Civic can jump safely into four lanes of SUVs and trucks racing through the busiest intersection in town.
This is the situation countless drivers have faced while attempting to turn left from businesses and side streets near the intersection of routes 72 and 31.
West Dundee hopes to eliminate this dangerous maneuver for many drivers with the intersection's first major upgrade in more than 25 years.
The village's push to improve its busiest crossroads comes at a time when the village is considering creating a special taxing district, or TIF district, that would include the intersection.
Annual property tax revenue shared among taxing bodies in the district would be frozen at current levels over the 23-year life of the TIF. As the value of properties increase, the tax revenue they generate above the frozen level can be used to redevelop the district -- including the crucial intersection.
"In order to improve the retail area, you have to improve transportation," village Community Development Director Cathleen Tymoszenko said.
But officials say improving the intersection is not a major motivation behind the taxing district.
"There are no firm plans to use TIF money to improve the intersection," Village Administrator Joe Cavallaro said.
Instead, TIF revenue could fund needed intersection upgrades in the long term, Cavallaro said.
For now, the village is pursuing a short-term plan to make the intersection safer and wider.
The village paid about $200,000 last year to fund a study on how to increase capacity and minimize cut-through traffic at the intersection.
The Illinois Department of Transportation would pay roughly $1.4 million to cover the cost of construction.
The plan would add four new lanes: Dedicated right-turn lanes from Route 72 onto Route 31 in both directions, and a second left-turn lane from Route 31 onto Route 72 in both directions.
The upgrade also would add medians on routes 72 and 31 that motorists would not be able to cross. These would prevent drivers from making dangerous left turns across several lanes of traffic near the busy intersection.
IDOT could not provide a timeline for the construction on Tuesday.
A committee of government bodies that receive tax dollars from the area included in the proposed TIF district is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. today at West Dundee Village Hall.
The committee will vote on whether to recommend the TIF district to the village board. The vote is nonbinding.