The speed limit on a portion of Hopps Road near a residential subdivision in Elgin Township is likely to be reduced, following a Tuesday recommendation by the Kane County Executive Committee.

The committee recommended the full County Board approve a request from the Elgin Township Road District to drop the speed limit on Hopps Road from Stevens Road to 800 feet east of Stevens Road from 45 mph to 40 mph.

“It also was requested from residents of a subdivision west of Nolan and Hopps,” Kane County Deputy Director of Transportation and Chief of Staff Tom Rickert told the Executive Committee. “Essentially, it’s a collector road, but at the far end of Hopps, there’s a curve, and there have been instances where cars have left the road.”

Presently, Hopps Road east of Stevens Road is posted with a speed limit of 45 mph; the Hopps Road residential subdivision west of Stevens Road is posted with a speed limit of 30 mph.

“It sort of fizzles out from something that looks like a through road to a residential subdivision,” Kane County Division of Transportation Director Carl Schoedel said.

According to a summary in the agenda packet, it is recommended that “differences in posted speeds between adjacent altered speed zones should not be more than 10 miles per hour.”

Typically, Kane County does not lower speed limits on county roads unless the action is requested from another agency. The county then conducts a road study to see if the request for a reduced speed is justified.

District 16 Kane County Board member Michael Kenyon of South Elgin, who is not a member of the Executive Committee but was in attendance Tuesday, said the action “is a good thing.”

“Usually, we’re a little leery of reducing the speed limit, but in this case, it makes good sense,” he said.

The committee recommended moving the item to the consent agenda for approval at the Tuesday, Oct. 14, County Board meeting.

RESOLUTION APPROVING ALTERATION OF SPEED LIMIT, ELGIN TOWNSHIP

(Submitted to Executive Committee on Oct. 7 for possible approval on consent agenda of Oct. 14 County Board meeting.)

WHEREAS, County of Kane through its Division of Transportation has caused an engineering and traffic investigation to be conducted of a road in Elgin Township, which is a road not otherwise under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Transportation; and

WHEREAS, the Transportation Committee of the Kane County Board has reviewed the results of said investigation and has recommended the alteration of the existing maximum speed limit of forty-five (45) miles per hour as set forth in the Illinois Vehicle Code, (625 ILCS 5/11-604), so as to be both reasonable, safe and proper.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Kane County Board, that pursuant to the Illinois Vehicle Code, (625 ILCS 5/11-604), the maximum speed limit on the road in Elgin Township as described hereunder shall be forty (40) miles per hour as indicated in the schedule as set forth below.

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that this Ordinance shall be effective upon the approval of the Kane County Board as provided by statute and the posting of signs giving notice of said forty (40) miles per hour maximum speed limit.