Creating connections: Eldamain Road bridge project expected to spur Yorkville, Plano business growth

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of three stories on the Eldamain Road bridge project to span the Fox River between Yorkville and Plano. Look for the first part of the series, “Make no small plans,” at KendallCountyNow.com, and the third part, “Building the bridge,” coming soon. This story, “Creating connections,” focuses on the transportation links that will be established by the bridge.

Kendall County’s Eldamain Road bridge project is more than just the bridge itself.

When complete, the bridge and its connecting roadways will establish a new 3.5-mile, north-south corridor that will create additional connections for motorists.

The new river crossing site is about halfway between the Route 47 bridge in downtown Yorkville and the Fox River Drive bridge just south of Plano, a 5-mile gap.

The $35 million project extends from River Road just north of the Fox River to Route 71 and farther south on West High Point Road.

At the southern end of the project, drawings have been rendered to show a future Lisbon Road extension, making a connection with Walker Road to the south, but there are no immediate plans to carry out the extension.

The key connection created by the bridge will be from U.S. Route 34 to Illinois Route 71, two of Kendall County’s principal east-west thoroughfares.

To the north, the existing Eldamain Road extends all the way to Kane County.

Eldamain Road is the boundary between Plano and Yorkville. Both municipalities are looking at the road as an engine of economic development.

On the Yorkville side, a 100-acre greenhouse lettuce farm at Corneils Road has already been approved, while Plano is moving ahead with plans for a gasoline and convenience store development at Route 34.

Yorkville officials are working on a plan to extend sanitary sewer service to the lettuce farm development. The sewer line will be designed to serve other businesses that the city hopes to attract to the Eldamain corridor.

Another benefit of the bridge project will be to divert heavy truck traffic away from Route 47, which can be more than a little unnerving for motorists in downtown Yorkville.

Motorists traveling the Eldamain Road extension will find themselves on a wide-open, two-lane roadway, with the traffic lanes separated by an 18-foot-wide median with concrete curbs. On the outside will be a wide shoulder and an open ditch drainage system.

The extension will intersect with Fox Road, just north of the railroad tracks, at a point where the east-west roadway takes a short jog on a north-south axis, linking with West High Point Road to the south.

Instead of a conventional intersection, the connection at Eldamain and Fox roads will be a roundabout.

Also known as traffic circles, roundabouts allow traffic to flow in one direction around a central island, increasing safety and eliminating the need for a traffic signal.

Initially, the roundabout at Eldamain and Fox roads will have three legs, on the north, south and west sides. An eastern leg could be added later.

The connections to be created by the bridge will serve more than vehicle traffic.

Along the east side of the bridge will be a 10-foot-wide bicycle path, separated from the motor vehicle lanes by a concrete parapet wall.

On the other side of the bike path, running along the edge of the bridge, will be a galvanized steel railing. Bicyclists will be treated to a view of the Fox River and the surrounding forest preserves.

The bike trail will provide a connections to the Hoover, Fox River Bluffs and Subat forest preserves. At the south end of the span, the pathway will loop under the bridge to access the Fox River Bluffs preserve.

Inside the concrete wall separating the motor vehicle lanes from the bike path will be another connection, this one with a high-tech view to the future.

Workers are installing conduit that will allow for easy installation of broadband fiber optic cables for internet and other communications providers.