A. The proper management and operation of the County Highway’s infrastructure is critical to the safety of the motoring public and directly related to the overall economic health and quality of life of McHenry County. The economic vitality of the County is also related to the availability of access to the arterial highway system. This requires the implementation of access management regulations that provide for a balance between the need to move traffic safely and efficiently while still providing access to adjacent properties.
B. The construction, maintenance and improvement of the County Highway System represent a substantial investment of public funds, impacts from development on the County Highway System shall be mitigated by development and shall not result in the need for the investment of additional public funds. The use of the County Highway System’s rights-of-way by non-highway uses must be properly managed to ensure that these non-highway uses do not constrain the ability of the County to improve the County Highway System in the future.
C. Therefore, this Ordinance is adopted for the following purposes:
1. To protect, provide and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the motoring public utilizing County Highways.
2. To minimize congestion and delay on County Highways which results from providing access to abutting property.
3. To maintain an acceptable Level-of- Service on County Highways.
4. To minimize conflicts between vehicles traveling along the County Highway and vehicles entering and exiting County Highways via private or public access facilities.
5. To provide for the proper location and spacing of access facilities, to limit the number of access facilities to abutting properties, to minimize interference with the flow of traffic on the County Highway, and to minimize interference with traffic using adjacent access facilities.
6. To allow the County Engineer to establish reasonable standards and design specifications for access facility improvements on County Highways to protect the public investment.
7. To provide for the establishment of sufficient pavement, right-of-way and easement widths and to provide for highway related stormwater management facilities.
8. To prohibit the use of a County Highway as a portion of the internal circulation system of abutting property, to prohibit backing onto a County Highway and to prohibit, where necessary, parking on County Highway rights-of-way.
9. To establish reasonable requirements for performance and maintenance guarantees, to ensure the proper construction of required improvements, and to ensure that required improvements are completed in an expeditious manner in accordance with accepted engineering and geometric standards and specifications.
10. To establish reasonable regulations and procedures to ensure that any public or private utilities and facilities are either placed in easements outside of the right-of-way or are placed within existing rights-of-way such that future expansion of the County Highway can be accomplished at no additional cost to the County to relocate or remove such utilities and facilities.
11. To provide regulations and procedures for the temporary use or closure of a County Highway.
12. To ensure that drainage facilities or earthen berms are not constructed immediately adjacent to the right-of-way so as to significantly limit the ability of the County to expand the right-of-way in the future.
(Ord. O-200811-82-068, passed 11-6-2008)