Outer belt debate: West Side representative says constituents oppose eastern route
By Steve Lord
STAFF WRITER
GENEVA ó While it appears Kane County Board Chairman Mike McCoy has built a local consensus behind his proposed
outer-belt corridor, one board member said he is against it ó even if he stands alone.
"I'm sure I'll be voted down 25 to 1, but I'm going to oppose this alignment," board member Bill Wyatt,
R-Aurora, said.
McCoy's proposed alignment, which he considers a compromise, would begin at the section of Route 56 that feeds
Interstate 88. It would run south along the edge of rural Sugar Grove, turning west through Montgomery, then west
in northern Kendall County to meet a corridor that the Illinois Department of Transportation has been touting for
the outer belt.
Wyatt has the distinction of being the board member living closest to the proposed alignment ó less than a mile,
he estimated. The next closest board member to it would be McCoy.
Wyatt said he opposes McCoy's alignment because his district includes parts of Aurora's West Side, part of Sugar
Grove and the unincorporated subdivision of Prestbury. Both Sugar Grove and Prestbury oppose the eastern alignment,
Wyatt said.
Who wants it?
"I'm preparing a position paper to explain why the people I represent are against it," Wyatt said. "Who
wants air pollution, noise pollution, eye pollution, all that traffic in their backyard?"
On Wednesday, the County Board Executive Committee unanimously passed a resolution of support for McCoy's alignment.
The board is expected to vote on the full resolution at its March 12 meeting. If the resolution passes, it would
be sent with a letter from McCoy and a map of the alignment to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Wyatt said he already has discussed an eastern alignment with Sugar Grove and Prestbury, and people in both places
are against it.
Other board members said Wednesday the new alignment could benefit Sugar Grove and Montgomery. Board member John
Hoscheit, R-St. Charles, said representatives from Sugar Grove and Montgomery recently told county officials they
oppose the eastern alignment because it would interfere with their plans to build 5,000 to 6,000 new houses.
The Sugar Grove representatives added they would possibly like to see Gordon Road extended to facilitate their
development plans. Because McCoy's alignment would run close to Gordon Road, the outer belt could take the place
of a Gordon extension, Hoscheit said.
"If we didn't do this (eastern alignment), they would come back, screaming for us to accommodate them with
a road," Hoscheit said. "We're getting ahead of the game. I think it will be a benefit for both these
communities."
A local effect
McCoy said the same thing earlier this week when talking about Sugar Grove and Montgomery. He said the originally
proposed alignment in western Kane County would handle regional traffic, but would have no affect on local, Kane
County traffic because it would be too far west.
But the eastern alignment would benefit both regional and local traffic, McCoy said. Wyatt disputed that. He
said he agreed with McCoy that the eastern alignment might serve to take more truck traffic off Route 47 and Orchard
Road.
"But I don't think any local people will use it," he said.
Board member Rudy Neuberger, D-Aurora, who has much of Montgomery in his district, said he thinks the new alignment
would be more beneficial to local people. That's one reason he has supported an eastern alignment since the outer
belt discussion began.
"I think it's more logical, and will serve more people," he said.
He commended McCoy for also suggesting the county form a committee made up of representatives from the county,
Sugar Grove, Montgomery, Aurora and Prestbury to oversee and shepherd through discussions about the road. The project
is at least 15 to 20 years off, with plenty of study and planning ahead.
"No matter where you put it, someone's going to be unhappy," Neuberger said. "Let's work together
on this."