Village President John Schmitt posted what he proclaimed was a self-deprecating picture of himself on Facebook. (Photo courtesy of Facebook)

A road improvement project in Algonquin has become a bee in the bonnet for Algonquin Village President John Schmitt.

A week after work on the parkway near Randall Road, which began April 17, District Court Judge Sharon Coleman granted an emergency stop because the planned route included habitat of the rusty patched bumble bee. Since that time, stinging criticism erupted from both sides of the issue.

Over the past two decades, the rusty patched bumble bee’s population has declined 87 percent, according to the announcement.

The Longmeadow Parkway Fox River Bridge Corridor is a four-lane Fox River Bridge crossing and four-lane minor arterial roadway corridor with a median, approximately 5.6 miles in length, designed to alleviate traffic congestion in northern Kane County. The proposed road passes through portions of the Villages of Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills, as well as unincorporated areas of Kane County.

Rusty patched bumble bees are native to the Midwest. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services estimate that “The economic value of pollination services provided by native insects (mostly bees) is estimated at $3 billion per year in the United States.” Bumble bees are among the most important pollinators of crops and almost the only pollinators of tomatoes.

A map of the road improvement project. (Map coutesty of Village of Algonquin website)

For the rusty patched bumble bees to survive, they need grasslands and prairies and underground nesting sites for overwintering. Algonquin turned over more than $3 million worth of land to the parkway project, according to Schmitt.

Plans call for a four-lane, 5.6-mile east-west corridor connecting Randall Road with Route 62. Although advocates tout the road improvements as necessary to ease traffic congestion, those opposed voice concerns about its impact on the quality of life.

The rusty patched bumble bee is tame.

Perhaps to ease tension, Schmitt posted what he proclaimed was a self-deprecating picture of himself on Facebook. He photo-edited his head onto the body of someone dressed in a bee costume. Rusty patched bumble bee fans flew into a rage and demanded Schmitt’s resignation.

Facebook pages like ‘Curb Longmeadow’ and ‘Stop Longmeadow Tollbridge/Bolz Road Bridge,’ boast hundreds of followers. Belita Johnson, a concerned citizen, organized a Go Fund Me campaign to help finance the outcry.

Supporters of the project claim the plight of the rusty patched bumble bee is a pawn in opponents of the Longmeadow project’s. Village officials believe the Longmeadow project will improve the lives of Algonquin residents and the surrounding neighborhoods.

At an April 26 committee-of-the-whole meeting, Jack Bavaro read a prepared statement speaking for about 30 people in attendance. Bavaro’s statement called for Schmitt to resign and asked the village board to condemn Schmitt’s actions as “abhorrent.”

After the meeting Schmitt responded, stating that having bad taste on his personal Facebook wall fell short of a justifiable reason to relinquish his responsibilities to his community. He pointed out that the improved traffic flow has the potential to cut down on pollution to the river because traffic, and thereby exhaust would not be idling over the river. District Judge Coleman on April 28 refused to extend a temporary restraining order that stopped work on the project, saying opponents of the project failed to show that the construction is a significant threat to the rusty patched bumblebee’s habitat.