One of the recurring issues on Randall Road is that bus stops don’t have any amenities, just a bus-stop sign. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

Kane County Division of Transportation is working on a plan to make Randall Road safer for pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders.

The study specifically deals with the section of the road between Cottage Green Drive in Elgin and the Kane County side of the County Line Road in Algonquin.

While the details are still being developed, the idea is to fill gaps in sidewalks by building a multi-use path, improving traffic crossing signals and working with Pace suburban bus agency to improve bus stops. KDOT did initial public outreach in September 2023, and it is expected to present the initial draft of the improvement plan to the public sometime in February 2025.

Finishing up the plan is only the first step, which the county is calling Phase I. Phase II is a more detailed study that will figure out exactly how those improvements will look.  Phase III, the actual construction, still needs to be funded.

Jennifer O’Connell, KDOT’s chief of the design, who is spearheading the project, said that she’s reasonably confident that they will be able to get the necessary grant funding — but they have to complete Phase I before they can apply.

Randall Road is a major Kane County corridor. O’Connell said that some sections get as many as 45,000 vehicles a day. Pace bus Route 550, which links downtown Elgin with downtown Crystal Lake, runs through most of the study area, and Route 549, which runs between downtown Elgin and Elgin Community College, uses a portion of Randall Road south of U.S. Highway 20.

O’Connell said that KDOT launched the study in 2023 at the request of the Kane County Board. The study of existing conditions flagged several issues. Many sections of Randall Road have sidewalks on one side of the road, or no sidewalks at all. Some sidewalks stop abruptly without connecting to anything, and there are large gaps in sidewalks that do exist. Claude Hanson bridge over Big Timber Road doesn’t have sidewalks, let alone multi-use paths.

Several crossings don’t have pushbutton walk signals and/or clearly marked crossings. Many Pace bus stops are little more than bus-stop signs in the patch of dirt.

KDOT is looking to put a multi-use path — a trail that can be used by pedestrians and bicyclists alike — along the entire study area. O’Connell said that it will be anywhere between 5-10 feet wide, in part because they will take advantage of the sidewalks, which are an average of 5 feet wide.

The study is also looking at several different ways to make crosswalks safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Crossings with smaller streets may get simple stop signs, but longer crossings would include button-activated pedestrian crossing signals, and particularly long and complicated intersections may get pedestrian islands where people can safely wait out traffic until the signal changes. All would get tactile edges to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act.

O’Connell said that KDOT will be working with Pace “to plan where their bus stops are along the route, so that we can provide, I’ll say enchanted comfort levels at the bus stops.”

It may include a bus shelter, but it may include something as simple as a concrete pad connected to the sidewalk.

O’Connell said that Pace is coordinating with all the municipalities within the study area, as well the affected park districts and the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. And while the project can’t go on the McHenry County side of the County Line Road, she said that KDOT has been in touch with its McHenry counterpart.

Public engagement, O’Connell said, is an important part of the process.

“We do it in the beginning to get ideas from the public, and we meet with them some more once we have completed [the initial draft], so as to make sure we are on the right track,” she said.

The dates and times for the February 2025 public meetings have not been finalized.

The final draft is expected to be completed sometime next year. While the project website suggests that the other phases will be completed by the end of 2027, O’Connell said that the timeline will depend on when they receive the necessary grant funding.

“Our planning department is very successful in obtaining federal grants,” she said. “We will spend 2025 using this [Phase I study] document to apply for additional funds — all the federal funding that we possibly can.”

For more information about the study, and the latest information on the community meetings, visit https://www.randallroadmultimodal.org/