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Aurora Beacon-News
April 6, 2002

IDOT finishes review of highway comments

Making changes: No timeline set for Prairie Parkway decision

By Dave Parro
STAFF WRITER


The state has finished going through more than 1,000 pieces of correspondence on the proposed Prairie Parkway, and transportation officials now are studying possible modifications to the 33-mile highway corridor.

Among the options considered is the "compromise" alignment approved by the Kane County Board, an alternative alignment presented by Board Chairman Mike McCoy.

The Illinois Department of Transportation eastern corridor also is still under study and consideration, said Tom Sancken, IDOT study and plans engineer for the Ottawa district.

Sancken said the state has no timeline for deciding a final alignment, which also simply could be a slight modification of the plan presented at the Dec. 11 public hearing, which was IDOT's central corridor between Yorkville and Plano.

"We've reviewed all the comments, and we're in the process of seeing what we can do to lessen the impacts," Sancken said.

One of the changes IDOT definitely is looking to make is running the highway corridor along property lines, Sancken said, in order to avoid splitting farms in half. Many landowners, as well as U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, had called for a more farm-friendly route.

In many cases, the proposed path cut diagonally across farms, and the highway would have made it impossible for farmers to get easily from one side to the other.

Sancken said total comments topped 1,600, which often included more than one comment from the same person. Some pieces of correspondence also included petitions or transcripts from dozens of people at public meetings, he said.

The next step is to compile and summarize the comments in public record form. A Record of Hearing also will be released at about the same time, Sancken said, which would include a final alignment approved by state Transportation Secretary Kirk Brown.

Before making a final decision, however, transportation officials and engineers will evaluate the impact of each suggestion they have received. Comments ranged from minor suggestions to major realignments, said Gregg Mounts, IDOT program engineer.

"Even minor changes come with different impacts, so we're analyzing all of them," Mounts said.

A significant change in alignment would require another public hearing and comment period and would further delay a final decision. The Kane County proposal could influence the route because IDOT officials have said county input will carry significant weight.

McCoy's proposal shifted the Kane County portion of the route east between Sugar Grove and Montgomery but left the Kendall County portion west of Route 47.

"With that (proposal) in hand now, we owe it to Kane County and the study to look at that before we rush to a decision," Mounts said.

IDOT is still accepting new comments, but those will not necessarily be included as part of the official public record.