Village board president Paul Mulcahy said during a recent village meeting that the county is relying on inaccurate population projections to determine future traffic flow along Randall Road and that an intersection of the "magnitude" and "expense" of the CFI is not necessary, according to the article.
The estimated total cost of the intersection, which is meant to improve traffic flow on Randall Road, is $13 million and is part of the Randall Road improvement project between Ackman and County Line roads, according to the Northwest Herald.
The controversial plan for the intersection is not finalized, and it's unclear if federal funds would still be available if the county does not build a CFI, according to the article. In November, $10.6 million in federal funding was awarded for the CFI from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program.
The county board will vote on Feb. 4 whether to approve a $9.1 million contract with Transystems and Bollinger Lach and Associates to finish phase two design work on the CFI, according to the Daily Herald.
While the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning estimates there will be 66,000 vehicles traveling Randall per day by 2030, Mulcahy said that number should be closer to 48,000 while traffic estimates show 36,850 cars traveled through the busy Randall/Algonquin intersection along Randall per day in 2013, which is down from 45,890 per vehicle per day in 2006, according to the Daily Herald.
Lake in the Hills village officials have publicly opposed the continuous-flow intersection in the past and village officials believe the intersection could draw business away from the Lake in the Hills portion of Randall Road.
"A continuous-flow intersection has traffic turning left placed to the left of oncoming traffic, opposite where it is normally. This removes the conflict between oncoming traffic and traffic turning left," according to a FAQ page on the Randall Road Improvements project website. "Vehicles turning left access the lane a few hundred feet in front of the intersection."
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The county plan also calls for widening Randall Road to six lanes and includes improvements from Ackman Road to County Line Road, according to the Northwest Herald. Under the five-year plan, which is not finalized, construction for the project would start in 2016, according to the article.
- A graphic showing an aerial map of the proposed plan, and a video which demonstrates how a CFI works, can be found on the Randall Road project website.
The continuous-flow intersection is meant to help cut down on travel time and congestion along the heavily traveled Randall Road, according to county officials.
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If a conventional intersection remained at Randall and Algonquin, projections for peak travel time in 2030 showed the average motorist would face a delay of nearly 93 seconds, which received an “F” or failing level of service for a roadway.
The CFI would mean a 51.1 second delay for the average motorist and a “D” level of service.
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