Changes are coming for East County Line Road and Route 64 in Sycamore due to high truck traffic and accident rate.

The DeKalb County Board is teaming up with the Illinois Department of Transportation to implement a plan to improve the conditions of the intersection of County Line Road and Route 64 and County Line Road itself.

Stephanie Simpko, geographic information system specialist at IDOT, said there was one fatality and 13 accidents on the intersection from 2008-2009. Simpko said more recent numbers aren’t available yet.

DeKalb County engineer Nathan Schwartz said the project will begin this spring and be completed by mid-or late summer. The project is estimated to cost about $1.89 million.

Schwartz said one thing the board and IDOT will be constructing is a left turn lane on Route 64 to County Line Road. The intersection will be widened so when trucks turn, they can stay in their own lane, which means they won’t cross the center, to help prevent any future accidents.

In addition, County Line Road starting from Route 64 will be paved and upgraded to a year-round truck route.

Frank O’Barski, Highway Committee member and DeKalb County Board district 10 representative, said East County Line Road and Route 64 are very susceptible to damage so trucks can’t be continuously driven on them.

The road will go from having the ability to hold 73,280 pounds of traffic to hold 80,000 pounds. This means heavy trucks that drive on the two roads won’t damage the roads as much.

“I am pleased to see upgrades to the county highway infrastructure, and I look forward to making improvements on all the county highways,” Schwartz said.

O’Barski said most roads limit the trucks on them. Moisture and freezing can also cause damage, making the roads unable to handle heavy trucks.

“The reconstruction is something we need to do, particularly these truck routes are used by the agricultural communities. There is a lot of heavy truck traffic that comes through the county,” O’Barski said. “Maintaining the roads is one of the biggest issues we have. We get the most complaints about it.”

Julia Fauci, DeKalb County Board district nine representative, said she felt the East County Line Road needed some reconstruction.

“The accident level is one thing that is an issue with the roads. Now we … know where the bad spots are,” Fauci said.