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Algonquin bypass expected to be finished by fall ’14 By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com
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74 55 Complete forecast on page A10
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IDOT eyes project’s end ALGONQUIN – Crews poured concrete on a Friday to help complete the future driving surface that will take motorists around downtown Algonquin, which they previously have had to drive through. Work is about 80 percent complete on the Algonquin Western Bypass and the Illinois Department of Transportation is aiming to open the road around Labor Day. The harsh winter and the colder than normal spring had an effect on construction, which held back some concrete work, IDOT said. “That took time away on the main bridge span,” said Troy Wancket, Illinois Department of Transportation Bureau of Construction resident engineer. IDOT, however, always projected a fall 2014 opening. “By the end of August, beginning of September we’ll be in good shape,” Wancket said. The traffic signals for the road are in place but have yet to be activated. Workers also have to complete work on parapet walls, staining of walls and other aesthetics, Wancket said. Landscaping work is expected to take place in the fall after the bypass opens. That work, however, may require periodic daytime closures, IDOT spokeswoman Jae Miller said in an email to the Northwest Herald. When all is complete, the village will have a 2.11-mile, four-lane road that takes thru traffic around the downtown alleviating congestion at the Route 31 and Route 62 intersection. The bypass includes bridges over Algonquin Road and Crystal Creek, as well as an interchange at Route 62. With the other construction projects taking place along Route 31, including the widening from Trinity Drive to Rakow Road, the state roadway from the Algonquin bypass to just north of Route 176 will be four lanes when work is complete.
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Man on trial for child sex assault Alleged victim says incidents occurred from 1999 to 2003 By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com
to be a lot of good for everybody.” The Algonquin bypass isn’t the only state-funded road construction project that can help improve
WOODSTOCK – Taking the witness stand on Tuesday, a 23-year old woman told jurors the explicit details of alleged sexual encounters that happened more than 10 years ago between her and her mother’s former boyfriend. The woman said 53-year-old Thomas G. Reed had fondled and raped her on a frequent basis from 1999 to 2003, when she was between 9 and 13 years old. Testimony at the trial for the Algonquin man began Tuesday before McHenry County Judge Gordon Graham. Reed is charged with multiple sex crimes and if convicted, he faces at least 15 years in prison. According to the alleged victim’s testimony, Reed had dated and lived with her mother in McHenry and came into her room while she was asleep to lift the covers and stare at her. The sexual encounters began to escalate, and he began touching the girl’s vagina and eventually raped her, prosecutors said. “What happened to [the alleged victim] should never happen to any child,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kate Lenhard said Tuesday during opening statements. When cross-examined by defense attorney Brian Erwin, Reed’s accuser couldn’t recall the finer details of the alleged assaults, the woman’s timelines were off, and police statements had changed. Erwin argued there was no physical evidence to corroborate her testimony. The girl first made sex crime allegations against Reed in 2002, and again in 2006. Both times she didn’t
See CONSTRUCTION, page A6
See TRIAL, page A6
Photos by H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
F. H. Paschen mason Jim Biondo works from a lift as he patches a wall with concrete at the Algonquin Road exit of the bypass. Key components of the long-desired $33.3 million project are the building of a 2.1-mile, four-lane road around downtown to eliminate the rush-hour bottleneck at the intersection of Routes 31 and 62.
By the numbers
$33.3 million amount of the Algonquin bypass construction project being funded by the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program
$70.5 million estimated state, federal and county government spending on the project since 1996
“It’s an important corridor in McHenry County,” Wancket said. IDOT expects to have the speed limit for the bypass north of Algonquin Road set at 45 mph, and south of Algonquin Road at 35 mph, Wancket said. South of Algonquin Road is more of an urban area and is closer to the part of Route 31 that narrows to two lanes. Money for the $33.3 million construction project is coming from the state’s Illinois Jobs Now! capital program. When including engineering costs, environmental studies, land acquisition, demolition of buildings and construction, state,
Workers pour concrete Friday for the Algonquin Western Bypass bridge over Algonquin Road. federal and county governments are estimated to have spent $70.5 million on the project since 1996. “It’s been a very unique project and real exciting to work on,” Wancket said. “We hope it’s going
Five former Quinn administration officials to be subpoenaed By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press CHICAGO – Five former state officials under Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration will be subpoenaed to testify about a troubled 2010 anti-violence program next month, but the rejection of two other subpoenas by a key Democratic lawmaker on
Tuesday reignited claims of election-year politics. The subpoenas for officials including Quinn’s former chief of staff and a deputy chief needed the signature of state Rep. Frank Mautino after a Legislative Audit Commission subcommittee voted for them Monday. Mautino, of Spring Valley, said Tuesday that he didn’t agree with two others because their duties were outside the scope of an audit that highlighted problems with Quinn’s Neighborhood Recovery Initiative. The bipartisan com-
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mission reviews and approves state audits. But after Mautino’s decision, his co-chair, state Sen. Jason Barickman, a Bloomington Republican, accused Democrats of thwarting the fact-finding process. “It’s extremely disappointing to think that the Democrats are trying to distance some individuals from this program and inhibit our ability to get answers to individuals that we agreed upon,” he said. “These
See SUBPOENA, page A6
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Auditor General William Holland (left) and state Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, talk May 6 during a legislative commission at the state Capitol in Springfield. The commission voted to grant itself subpoena powers to investigate Gov. Pat Quinn’s anti-violence program. AP file photo
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Anti-violence program subject of investigation