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Vote soon: Board members still lack consensus on highway
By Steve Lord
STAFF WRITER
GENEVA — The Kane County Board again will be asked to vote on opposing the state's proposed location of an outer-belt
highway.
Like the last time, the results are hard to predict.
The board in December tabled a resolution to oppose the highway. Most board members at the time said they needed
more information from the state Department of Transportation before they could make a decision.
Since then, there has been a public hearing in Yorkville, which 800 people attended, and another hearing in Big
Rock.
IDOT has released a map with a 400-foot corridor and a centerline for the road, which would run from
Interstate 88 south through Kane and Kendall counties, turning east to hook up with Interstate 80 near
Mendota.
IDOT intends to record that centerline yet this year, tying up the land along it until the state is ready to buy
for
right-of-way. That could be 10 to 15 years away.
Board Chairman Mike McCoy, who opposes the highway's current location, said Wednesday at a County
Board Executive Committee meeting he thinks Kane officials have heard all the answers they are going to get
from the state.
"The state can't answer all the questions," he said.
McCoy asked if any board members at Wednesday's meeting supported the current location for the highway,
and no one raised a hand. Yet, that does not guarantee they will vote next week for a resolution opposing the
location.
Some board members said they support the concept of an outer-belt highway. Others said they have
constituents who support it, while still others said they think it is inevitable and want Kane County to have a
say in how it goes through the county.
"For the record, I'm for an outer-belt freeway," said board member Don Rage, R-Sleepy Hollow. "I
have 3,000
homes in my district west of Randall Road. The growth is going to come anyway."
A powerful tool
Board member Jim Mitchell, R-North Aurora, said people in his district want "some sort of limited-access
freeway" to help congestion on Kane County roads. He said he wants IDOT to come out and have a special
meeting with the Kane County Board about the highway.
Many board members said IDOT already has made decisions without asking Kane County's opinion. They said they would
vote against the highway not just because of the location but because of the process IDOT has used.
"Typically, the community involved participates, but I don't get that feeling here," said board member
Gerry Jones, D-Aurora. "They just dropped in on us."
McCoy said he asked IDOT officials if they ever before sited a centerline and a corridor where there was no existing
one so far ahead like this, and with no specific building plans.
"They said never before, at least in District 3," McCoy said. "It's a very powerful tool."
Eventually, board members backed a motion by Penny Cameron, R-Aurora, to have McCoy ask IDOT to attend a public
hearing in the county.
They are set to vote on the resolution opposing the outer belt at the Jan. 8 County Board meeting at 9:45 a.m.
in the board room, Building A, Kane County Government Center, 719 Batavia Ave.