McConnell Road speed limit

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
January 16, 2014

At the January Coffee with the Chief an area resident asked about the speed limit on McConnell Road. I may have misunderstood Chief Lowen, but I thought he said that Woodstock extended all the way to Lily Pond Road.

It does, but with the exception of a short stretch west of the Hooved Animal Humane Society. Here's what you need to know about speed limits on McConnell Road, from the Woodstock City Code.

Illinois Route 47 Halma Lane 30

Halma Lane City limits 35

Applewood Drive 1,300' to the east 45

So the big question is, Where are the "City limits" mentioned above? It's hard to tell when you are driving east on McConnell Road between Halma Lane and Applewood Drive; however, if you are traveling west, the City Limit will be at or near the 35MPH speed limit sign.

When you see that 35MPH sign westbound, right across the road there should be a 45MPH speed limit sign for eastbound traffic. The Dorr Township Road District should install a 45MPH sign there, but I haven't been able to persuade them to do so in 3-4-5 years of asking.

If you are eastbound, you may be able to legally increase your speed to 45MPH at that point, based on the speed limit on the opposite side of the road.

Then, eastbound, you re-enter the City of Woodstock where the 45MPH sign is. Where does that 45MPH zone end? At "1.300' to the east" (of Applewood Drive). That would be just west of Greenview Drive, where there is a 45MPH sign for westbound traffic. It seems to me that the speed limit in Woodstock from Greenview Drive to Lily Pond Rd. becomes the State speed limit of unposted, rural 55MPH.

If you are westbound on McConnell Road, you will see a 45MPH sign just west of Greenview Drive, in front of the City Park there. (Yes! That's a Woodstock City park on the north side of McConnell Road, although you'd never know it from signing. It looks like a private park belonging to the homes there; it's not. It's McConnell Road Park, owned and maintained by the City of Woodstock.)

Opposite the 45MPH westbound sign, there ought to be a 55MPH sign for eastbound traffic. But there's not. Maybe the City of Woodstock doesn't want you to know that the speed limit changes there, because then drivers might speed up.

Where does Woodstock end on McConnell Road? Out near Lily Pond Road. Again, you'd never know it, because the City has installed neither a Welcome to Woodstock sign for westbound traffic nor a Leaving Woodstock sign for eastbound traffic.

At the Coffee with the Chief, the same area resident who asked about speed limits on McConnell Road mentioned a new Bull Valley sign on McConnell Road as you approach Country Club Road. Watch for a future article about the speed limits near that intersection.