It’s a little hard to put into words what the Tuesday, Oct. 6, ribbon cutting on the newly realigned Plank Road means to the folks who live in the village of Burlington.

The regional enhancement to the transportation system includes the village’s first traffic signal, but more importantly it removes the jog in Plank Road created 164 years ago by Burlington founders James and S.S. Mann as they laid out the plat for the original village in September 1851.

How does that translate in human terms?

It means economic opportunity, with easier access to the downtown area. It means emergency vehicles and ambulances will more easily cross the train tracks to get to a home on fire or to carry someone to the hospital. It signals a new era and an elevated quality of life for the 600-plus people who live in the village and thousands more who pass through it.

“We proudly invite you to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Plank Road Realignment,” says an invitation to the event, which is open to the public and begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the new intersection of Plank Road and Burlington Road, a.k.a. Main Street in Burlington.  “This special event will commemorate the completion of construction of this long-anticipated realignment of the east and west legs of Plank Road.”

Parking will be available in several locations: on the north side of “Old” Plank Road east of Main Street and along Main Street.

The intersection improvement project contracted through Kane County’s Division of Transportation was done by Martam Construction, Inc. of Elgin for about $4.6 million.

Officials broke ground on the project in August 2014. Work in 2015 started on April 6 with completion expected this fall.

Read More

• Plank Road Groundbreaking Was Decades in the Making
• PROGRESS 2015: Little Burlington Has Big Plans
• From Coffee-Table Napkins to Groundbreaking — Plank Road Realignment Becomes Reality
• Burlington’s Long-Awaited Plank Road Work Starts April 6