A committee of county and municipal officials expects to recommend an engineer for the largest road project in McHenry County Highway Department history Jan. 31.
The West McHenry Bypass Technical Advisory Committee met for the first time Thursday and discussed their schedule for the months ahead. A top priority is recommending a project engineer, who would direct the study on a route for the bypass.
The bypass would take traffic from Illinois Highway 31 around the west side of McHenry. County officials estimate the job will have a price tag exceeding $50 million.
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The advisory committee’s recommendation would go to the County Board’s Transportation Committee for approval and then to the County Board for a final OK.
The advisory committee is made up of officials from all the affected communities–Bull Valley, Johnsburg, McCullom Lake, McHenry, Prairie Grove, Richmond and Ringwood–and other units of local government, including three County Board members.
The County Board had rejected a decision by the Highway Department to hire Chicago-based Environmental Science & Engineering for the bypass project. Instead, Chairman Michael Tryon suggested last September that the board create an advisory committee to make the selection. His suggestion came in response to a complaint by Smith Engineering Co. of McHenry, that the Highway Department had not interviewed them or other firms and failed to follow county purchasing rules.
Tryon said Thursday that bringing together representatives of the affected communities at the start of the process should result in quick agreement.
Construction of the west McHenry bypass could be several years away. The schedule discussed Thursday shows the bypass study concluding early in 2002. The county would then need to line up state and federal funding to help build the road.