Thinking About Fleming Road…

I’ve been thinking a lot about Fleming Road (runs from Route 120 to Country Club, about 2 miles). If you haven’t driven it, it is worth the drive. Truly one of the most scenic roads in the county. Hilly, wooded, gentle curves, the whole bit.

A friend calls it “tummy tickle” road because of the hills – a name that started when his kids were little and they liked the roller-coaster effect of driving along Fleming!

BUT, it is technically a county highway that is considered by them to be the route from Route 120 to Route 14 by way of Country Club Road and Ridgefield Road.

Over the years, some folks have used Fleming as a cut-through for just that purpose – to get from west Crystal Lake to points north like Wonder Lake. And folks who are “cutting through” are often looking to get from point A to point B a bit faster than it would take to go around on the main roads. And that means they want to go as fast as possible.

Well, Fleming just isn’t that kind of road!

Fleming is more of a “Sunday Driver” road – you know, the kind where folks drive slowly, looking at the scenery, and enjoying the rural, pastoral landscape along the road.

Well, now the road may be threatened because some feel it needs some “improvements.” And those “improvements” are likely to mean the road will be less hilly, wider, and with trees set back farther from the pavement. All of that translates into “less scenic” if you ask me.

Now, here’s what I don’t understand. Why can’t they just replace the pavement and do the work within the existing right of way? Why can’t they keep the road largely the same as it is today, and enforce the speed limits, rather than changing the road to make it more of a speedway for those folks who want to shave a few seconds off their trip from Crystal Lake to Wonder Lake?

Why?