Common Sense: Terry Flanagan
People have learned to expect very little from government. For one thing, government moves at a glacial pace,
even in situations in which you would expect a sense of urgency.
Take the airline security crisis, for example. Months went by before we began to see any progress. Things get
even worse when more than one government agency is involved. We can see that with the outer beltway project.
Every government project begins with a study. It does not matter how many similar studies have been done or what
the results of previous studies were. Studies are often expensive and lengthy. Since a number of studies are done
by outside consultants, there is often a bidding process that precedes awarding the study contract. The bidding
process itself may even involve an outside consultant to draw up the request forproposal. Once a study is done,
there is no guarantee that the recommendations made in the study will be followed. The government discards numerous
studies.
The Prairie Parkway project is also beginning with a study. NorthernIllinois University's Center for Government
Studies will receive $200,000 from IDOT to study the effect of the proposed highway on development and transportation
in the region. An additional $15 million is also available from the federal government for further studies.
It is interesting to note is that regional studies have already beenconducted by NIPC, the Metropolitan Planning
Council, the Campaign for Sensible Growth, and the Openlands Project. None of these agencies recommended an outer
beltway. The MPC has come out against the beltway.
The Openlands Project issued a report in January of 1999 covering 13counties in the Chicago metropolitan planning
area. The report analyzes current conditions and projections for the year 2028. The report stated that during the
period between 1970 and 1990, the area population increased by 4 percent while the developed land area increased
by46 percent. It concluded that the area is under tremendous development pressure.
However, Kane County was listed as one bright spot. The Kane County 2020 Land Resource Management Plan was given
an award by the American Planning Association. Kane County is doing its best to preserve the western portion of
the county for farmland.
Even with those plans in place, the Openlands Project expected to seefarmland drop from 79 percent to 43 percent
of the total in Kane as the population grows from 317,471 to a projected 550,000 by 2028.
Neither the Kane County 2020 Plan or the Openlands Project report havetaken the outer beltway into consideration.
Kane County does plan to do a study of its own about effects of the proposed beltway. Meanwhile, transportation
planners at an event sponsored by the Conservation Forum agreed that the highway would draw development and probably
cause a population shift from the congested Naperville-Wheaton area to thebeltway corridor.
Developers have already expressed an interest in building aroundhighway interchanges. You can draw parallels
to the communities that sprang up along rivers in pioneer days, since rivers were the highways in the days before
automobiles.
It is uncertain what results the NIU researchers will return. Their goal will not be to plot the best land use
strategy. They will only be looking at the effects of the beltway on the area. It is clearthat the beltway will
consume farmland, 1,500 acres for the road alone. If the developers have their way, a lot more farmland will also
disappear.
As farmland disappears, another of Denny Hastert's pet projects may also be hurt: the use of corn and other grains
for alternative fuels such as ethanol. Alternative fuels hold out great hope for reducing pollutants and dependence
on foreign oil. They also represent a market with tremendous growth potential for farmers. Let's not forget that
we still need farmland to produce food for human and livestock consumption.
How much can we afford to lose?
I don't think anyone knows for sure, but I'm afraid we might find out.
Terry Flanagan is a computer programmer who lives in Geneva."The only way to solve the traffic problems of
the country is to pass a law that only paid-for cars are allowed to use the highways. That would make traffic so
scarce we could use the boulevards for children's playgrounds." Will Rogers