NOTE: The following is information received from the group, Fleming Road Alliance (FRA). Including this information does not mean the Town Crier agrees or disagrees with with group.The Town Crier merely provides the information for public consumption.
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"The members of the Fleming Road Alliance (FRA) Express Their Opinion That McHenry County Division of Transportation Is Not Responsive To The People They Serve "The FRA position is that Fleming Road must stay in the same footprint as it is now, with no widening, no straightening, no leveling, no turn lanes, no curbs-and-gutters, no wide shoulders, no drainage ditches, no walls, and it is important to save the trees.
"We want safe roads for the residents as well as the motoring public. We believe that McDOT can design safe roads that are attractive.
"The federal government has developed guidelines for Context Sensitive Solutions and Designs for roadways that emphasize creating and maintaining roads that: are attractive, are community oriented, highlight historic and scenic features, and make driving on them a pleasurable experience.
"The federal government has developed guidelines for Context Sensitive Solutions and Designs for roadways that emphasize creating and maintaining roads that: are attractive, are community oriented, highlight historic and scenic features, and make driving on them a pleasurable experience.
"We residents have chosen to live here for the peace and beauty of the area. It is important that the rural and local nature of Fleming Road be preserved - the hills, the curves, the unobtrusive shoulders, and the trees– for the residents as well as the county at large.
"At the August Citizens Advisory Group meeting that MCDOT and TranSystems Engineering Company held with stakeholders of Fleming Road , McDOT announced that they intended to remove only 230 trees. This is unacceptable because seeing the trees is a reminder of what they do for the people and the environment. The Land Conservancy has informed us that Fleming Road travels through one of the last and largest concentrations of remnant oak and hickory woodlands in McHenry County; many 200 to 250 year-old trees are within 10 to 20 feet of the pavement; McDOT eliminated some trees from the survey and thus some trees are scheduled to be removed that are not included in the 230; and the rebuild will kill many more trees due to root damage.
"A member of the County Board Transportation Committee stated at a committee meeting that she was concerned that residents on Fleming Road were spinning conspiracy theories. The members of the FRA do not think that anyone in the McHenry County government or the Division of Transportation has a personal vendetta against the residents of Fleming Road. We would guess that the Division of Transportation would say, “This is not personal, this is business.” And that is what concerns us….. the way the Division of Transportation does business.
"Our uneasiness about how McDOT conducts business has been heightened by observing how they have done business with property owners on Walkup Avenue in Crystal Lake and Alden Road in Alden Township. If you go to YouTube.com and search for Fleming Road Alliance and then “McHenry County Transp Comm Mtg 102010 Public Comment Walk Up Road,” you can watch a video of a resident making a public comment at the Oct. 20 meeting of McH County Transportation Committee describing how McDOT treated him: Or click on the following site:
"Then if you search for
“Fleming Road Alliance Nov 17 2010 Transp Com discusses Walk Up Rd Access Issue”: or click on the following site:
you will watch McHenry County Board member and Transportation Committee member Scott Breeden propose that the County should help the man who made the complaint at the Oct. 20 meeting. Breeden said in part, “If it’s going to cost the County $3,000.00 to improve that entrance to make an individual whole with regards to his property I think that’s money well spent.” Listen to the response of JosephKorpalski, Head of the McHenry County Division of Transportation, Walter Dittrich, Design Manager, and other members of the Transportation Committee.
"After watching the videos cited above and talking to residents of Alden Road who live along the bridge that was just rebuilt, it appears that the McHenry County Division of Transportation is not being held accountable to the people for whom they work. We are appealing to the members of the McHenry County Board to review the policies and procedures of the Division of Transportation.
"For more information, to join our FRA e-mail list,and to sign our petition, please contact us at
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