(A) The Illinois Compiled Statutes, as amended, provide for the County Board and the County Engineer to have authority over supervision of county highways. This chapter is hereby adopted to preserve and protect the public safety, health, and general welfare as they relate to the operation and use of county highways, and their associated right-of-way.
(B) ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 5-413 et seq., as amended provides for access roads and driveways for public and private use to be allowed onto a county highway only upon the issuance of a permit by the County Engineer in accordance with regulations adopted by the County Board. This chapter implements that law but does not limit nor restrict the county insofar as other sections of the Illinois Highway Code pertaining to access to and use of county highways.
(C) ILCS Ch. 765, Act 205, § 2 et seq., as amended, requires that written approval be obtained from the appropriate local highway authority regarding highway access prior to final approval and recording of a plat by a municipality or county. For county highways, the authority shall be the County Engineer.
(D) ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 8-101 et seq., as amended, grants county boards the authority to designate highways under their jurisdiction as freeways. ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 8-102 et seq. gives the County Board the sole authority to grant or deny any new points of access, or allow the modification, change, or enlargement of any existing points of access.
(E) ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 9-101.1, as amended, authorizes the County Engineer to consider additional detention in lands on the county right-of-way.
(F) ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 9-115.1, as amended, requires that drainage facilities for the purposes of detention or retention of water may not be constructed within a distance of ten feet plus one and one-half times the depth of the drainage facility adjacent to the right-of-way of any public highway without the written permission of the highway authority having jurisdiction over the public highway. The toe of any earthen berm may not be constructed nearer than ten feet to the right-of-way of any public highway without the written permission of the highway authority having jurisdiction over the public highway.
(G) The Illinois Highway Code (ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 5-414) of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, as amended, grants county boards the authority to adopt regulations providing for the issuance of permits by the County Engineer for the temporary closure to traffic of any portion of a highway under their jurisdiction for any public purpose.
(H) The Illinois Highway Code (ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 9-113) of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, as amended, sets forth the powers and authority of the appropriate highway authority as they relate to the placement, removal, relocation, modification, or abandonment of utilities and facilities within public highways including their placement within the rights-of-way of county highways. For county highways, the appropriate highway authority shall be the County Engineer.
(I) The Illinois Highway Code (ILCS Ch. 605, Act 5, § 9-118) of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, as amended, set forth the power and authority of the appropriate highway authority as relate to planting trees, shrubs, plants or flowers in or upon the right-of-way of any highway. For county highways, the appropriate highway authority shall be the County Engineer.
(Ord. 20-231, passed 7-16-2020)