McHenry County 2040 Transportation Plan More Than Building Roads

Today’s children will be tomorrow’s commuters, so McHenry County planners are including their opinions as it seeks direction for the future of transportation in the county.

The McHenry County 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan kicked off in August with a goal to make it safer and easier for people to get around McHenry County, whether by car, bike, foot or via public transit. McHenry County Division of Transportation officials have been visiting farmers markets and festivals to determine the community’s needs.

Typical public meetings are held in the evenings and those who attend may not provide a good cross-section of the community, said Wally Dietrich, design manager for McHenry County Division of Transportation.

“A lot of people in McHenry County commute an hour plus. The last thing they want to do is drive out to a meeting after work to tell you ‘my commute’s too long,’ ” Dietrich said.

He said the festivals provide a better variety of people, from children to senior citizens.

Planners have held pop-up meetings at the McHenry County Fair, McHenry County College, Hearthstone Centegra Senior Fair and at the Harvard, Crystal Lake and Algonquin farmers markets.

Dietrich said it’s too early to notice any trends; however, he has found the public input interesting.

“Everybody figures when we go to farmers markets, everybody would say ‘Build roads, build roads.’ But there were a variety of ideas,” he said.

Many ideas can be viewed on the McHenry County 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan website. Survey forms show there’s lots of interest in public transportation, bike and pedestrian paths.

“In a long-range transportation plan people usually think of road construction. We’re looking at how the county is going to grow and we’re not going to just build a bunch more pavement to get people from point A to point B,” Dietrich said.

Dietrich said public transportation is big component in the plan. He said the Pace buses have been in the area for the last 30 years, but there hasn’t been a coordinated effort to determine whether the buses are serving the public’s needs.

The McHenry County Division of Transportation will continue to hold meetings at festivals and farmers markets. When enough public input has been gathered, results will be taken to the county board. A plan will be devised, and they will gather public input on the plan. Dietrich said the process should be completed by late 2012.

The plan will be a blueprint for future transportation decisions, including future infrastructure projects, prioritizing what and when projects are built, maintaining the existing transportation system, and expanding the options that residents have to get to their destinations, according to a MCDOT news release.

Dietrich said public input will help the county determine the best allocation of resources, whether that be more roads, public transportation or paths.

Upcoming meetings will be held at:

• Marengo Fall Family Fest, Sept. 23
• Woodstock Farmers Market, Sept. 24
• Huntley Fall Fest, Sept. 24
• Fox Lake Oktoberfest, Oct. 1 

McHenry County residents also are invited to fill out the online survey.