Elgin seeks grant for Slade boat ramp

Looming budget woes cast shadow on project

A look at the approach to the Slade Avenue Park
boat ramp reveals cracked, crumbling asphalt.
(Ted Schnell • BocaJump)

By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
A drive west down Slade Avenue in Elgin ends at a park laid out along the edge of the Fox River on the city’s East Side.

There is an area for parking to the right, and the driver brings his car to just a crawl as a couple of bicyclists slip out from a wooded trail to the left. They’re headed north on the Fox River Trail, a bike path that meanders through the area, following a shoreline made lush and verdant by this summer’s rains.

Huge Route 20-McLean project on way

Published Jan. 19, 2011
By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
If you've driven through the McLean Boulevard and Route 20 intersection during the busier times of day, you know how congested traffic can get there.

Vehicles exiting Route 20 from the east and west try to mix in with north and south traffic on McLean, even as some of those drivers are trying to get onto the highway themselves. The intersections at this crossroads involves two sets of traffic lights – one at Weld Road, immediately south of 20, and at the westbound 20 exit ramp just north of the highway overpass.

Throw in another set of traffic lights to the north, at Lillian Street, and yet another to the south at Fleetwood Drive, and you have set the stage for a perfect storm of sorts in terms of a rush-hour bottleneck.

Elgin plans for largest roundabout

Published Jan. 19, 2011
By Ted Schnell • BocaJump
The city is moving ahead with plans to build Elgin's largest roundabout to ease East-Side traffic congestion at Summit Street and Dundee Avenue, despite criticism raised before the City Council on Jan. 12.
Some questioned the safety of the project and its impact on surrounding businesses when the council met that evening.

City Manager Sean Stegall said last week that the Illinois Department of Transportation first fingered the intersection for improvements in 2001-02, when a more traditional approach was outlined.