Randall Road to be closed next week in Elgin, South Elgin

Drivers should avoid Randall Road in Elgin and South Elgin Monday and Tuesday, lest they want to deal with major traffic headaches due to emergency repairs at the railroad crossing.

Randall Road will be closed from 7 a.m. Monday to about 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Canadian National Railroad crossing, between Hopps Road and McDonald/Stearns roads.

Drivers will be rerouted to Bowes Road, McLean Boulevard and Stearns Road as the railroad company performs repairs.

"It's a very, very unfortunate situation. We're not at all happy with this but we don't have a choice," said Jay Seyller, permit administrator for the Kane County Division of Transportation. "It's going to be a terrible inconvenience for a lot of people."

An estimated 35,000 vehicles travel that stretch of road daily, Seyller said. The railroad marks the border between Elgin to the north and South Elgin to the south.

Canadian Pacific Railroad says there are fragmentation issues in the center of the crossing, which means that repairs cannot be done by closing half the road at a time, as in previous instances, Seyller said.

Seyller said he's contacting the county's sheriff's office and office of emergency management, along with Elgin and South Elgin police, to discuss how to coordinate traffic control.

He also said he hopes the work -- which will include pouring concrete -- will be done by 3 p.m. Tuesday, but adverse weather could delay that.