Residents tell McHenry County panel to fix jurisdictional confusion that leaves roads unrepaired

Two residents told the McHenry County Transportation Committee that long-running confusion over whether neighborhood streets are private, non-dedicated or township roads has left their subdivisions with crumbling surfaces and limited emergency access.

"My name is Justin Zar. I live in Algonquin Hills, Unit One," Zar said, asking the committee to use McHenry County DOT's 2024–25 audits to press the township to accept maintenance responsibility and to move the roads from the non-dedicated list to the plowed-and-paved list. He said his neighborhood includes "a little over two miles" of road in Unit One and that children and emergency vehicles face safety hazards because the roads are deteriorating.

Zar told the committee the county audits show the roads fall under township jurisdiction but that the IROs database still marks the roads as non-dedicated and lacking a maintenance assignment. "If the audit says they're township roads, help us make the township treat them like township roads," he said.

Rob Cable, who said he lives in the Balahala subdivision, described similar problems: steep, pothole-filled roadway that he said dead-ends at a river and that township officials have at times called private while the county's report lists township jurisdiction. "We're on a steep hill and fire engines have a hard time getting up and down our hill," Cable said, describing a potential public-safety risk.

Committee members pressed speakers for specifics, including length and historic plats. Zar said Unit One has about 1,100 feet on the stretch he raised and emphasized he is seeking county help presenting the county's documentation to the township so the township will accept legal precedent and maintenance responsibility.

County representatives and the chair said the county recognizes how jurisdictional disputes can leave residents without consistent maintenance but emphasized limits on the county's role. The committee's attorney noted intergovernmental disputes may ultimately be decided in court and that the county was reluctant to "enter into that battle" on behalf of the residents at this time.

The audience members asked the committee to reinstate or redesign a county non-dedicated roads maintenance program and to allow Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) funds to be used where state law permits. Zar argued the state of Illinois allows MFT funds for non-dedicated roads and said without those funds "the infrastructure that supports access to hundreds of homes in McHenry County is in jeopardy." The committee took no immediate action during the meeting.

The committee suggested residents pursue discussions with their township and allowed that prior litigation has been used in similar disputes; the county said its state's attorney would defend county positions if the county were drawn into litigation. The meeting's next procedural steps were not set for this request.