Safety Initiative McHenry County Maple Street at Coral Road Online Meeting

Study Location

The study is located at the intersection of Maple Street at Coral Road in McHenry County.

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Project Schedule

The project schedule is shown below as it progresses from initiation in Phase I to construction in Phase III. The schedule below is subject to project readiness and funding availability.

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• Phase 1 includes all tasks related to preliminary engineering and environmental studies, in pro-gress now, which will take place during the years 2024-2026. The phase 1 schedule has four stag-es. Stage 1 took place in 2024 and included gathering and analyzing existing data, used for devel-opment of the Purpose and Need, traffic and safety analysis, drainage studies, environmental surveys, and stakeholder meetings. Stage 2 takes place in 2025 and includes developing and ana-lyzing initial alternatives, used to identify concepts to address project needs, and identify oppor-tunities to minimize impacts. Public Information Meeting #1 takes place during this phase, in the Spring. Stage 3 will take place in 2025 and 2026 and includes identifying the preferred alternative. In this stage, the team uses public feedback to evaluate the initial alternatives, develops the pre-ferred alternative, and hosts Public Information Meeting #2 in Fall of 2025. In early 2026, Phase 1 of the study is completed and the design is approved.
• Phase 2 begins next, which will include land acquisition and contract plan preparation. It will take place from 2026 to 2028, pending project readiness and funding availability.
• Phase 3 includes project construction, and is expected to take place in 2028.

Purpose and Need

The Need for the project is to improve safety for all users of the intersection.

The Purpose of the study is to identify engineering improvements which address the following challenges that contribute to angle crashes:

• Disregarding traffic control devices
• Seasonal limited sight distance
• Roadway skew

Existing Conditions (No Build Alternative)

Maple Street at Coral Road is a rural intersection controlled by stop signs in each direction on Maple Street only. Both roads have a single travel lane in each direction with minimal paved shoulders.

Average Daily Traffic (ADT) Flow

Traffic counts were performed during 24 hours on a weekday in 2023 to collect existing traffic volumes. The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) provides 2050 traffic volumes based on anticipated land use changes in the region. The existing volume and predicted growth indicate that the current number of lanes accommodate the traffic demand of the area.

• Maple Street southbound: 1650 traffic volume currently; 2200 future traffic volume
• Maple Street northbound: 1400 traffic volume currently; 1850 future traffic volume
• Coral Road eastbound: 1850 traffic volume currently; 2450 future traffic volume
• Coral Road westbound: 1100 traffic volume currently; 1450 future traffic volume

Legend

• X,XXX Existing 2023 ADT
• (X,XXX) Future 2050 ADT

Traffic counts were performed during 24 hours on a weekday in 2023 to collect existing traffic volumes.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) provides 2050 traffic volumes based on anticipated land use changes in the region.

The existing volume and predicted growth indicate that the current number of lanes accommodate the existing and projected future traffic demand.

Safety

Deficiencies documented at the intersection contribute to increased risk of crashes, injuries, and fatalities.

Crash History (2019-2023)

• 12 Crashes
• 4 Injuries
  • 2 Angle
  • 2 Fixed Object Avoiding a Vehicle
• 1 Serious Injury
  • 1 Fixed Object Avoiding a Vehicle
• 1 Fatality
  • 1 Angle

By Crash Type

By Crash Severity

Crash Categories

• Type A: Incapacitating Injury
• Type B: Non-Incapacitating Injury
• PDO: Property Damage Only

By Potential Crash Cause*

• Failing to Reduce Speed to Avoid Crash 33%
• Animal 33%
• Failing to Yield Right-of-Way 25%
• Disregarding Stop Sign 17%
• Other 25%

• 0%
• 5%
• 10%
• 15%
• 20%
• 25%
• 30%
• 35%

*Each crash may have up to two potential causes identified.

Deficiencies or problems contributing to crashes

• Disregarding stop signs, failing to yield right-of-way to oncoming traffic.
  • Misconception that intersection is an all-way stop
  • Limited sight distance during growing season
• Posted speed limit increases for traffic on southbound Maple Street approaching the intersection
• Vehicle/animal collisions, especially at night
• Roadway skew
• Lack of paved shoulders

Alternatives

This section presents several transportation alternatives identified to address the project Purpose and Need.

Alternatives Evaluation

The table below compares alternatives based on their effectiveness to address intersection deficiencies and based on their potential impacts to environmental features or adjacent properties.

Evaluation Category	Alternative 1 Existing Intersection (No Build)	Alternative 2 Centered Roundabout	Alternative 3 Off-Set Roundabout	Alternative 4 Realignment
Crash Reduction	Negative Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement	Minimal Improvement
Speed Reduction	No change	Satisfactory Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement	Negative Improvement
Intersection Visibility	No change	Satisfactory Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement
Turn Movement Improvements	Negative Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement
Improved Shoulders	No change	Satisfactory Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement	Satisfactory Improvement
Environmental Impacts	No change	Negative Improvement	Minimal Improvement	Negative Improvement
Number of Properties Impacted	No change	6 Properties (minimal)	6 Properties (minimal)	10 Properties (negative)
Cost	No change	Minimally Impacted Cost	Minimally Impacted Cost	Negatively Impacted Cost

• No change
• Negative impact
• Minimal improvement/impact
• Satisfactory improvement/impact