Aurora Beacon-News
August 28, 2001
By Mike Cetera STAFF WRITER
West of Route 47: House speaker suggests open space can be preserved
along corridor
AURORA ó A north-south highway could be built in Kane
County without abandoning a commitment to preserve open space, U.S.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Monday.
Hastert suggested "creativity" could help sell an outerbelt freeway
project to skeptical county officials. The roadway, for example,
could be built connecting green spaces with limited access points,
much like Interstate 88 west of Aurora, he said.
"If we work together to get this thing done, it's going to be a huge
benefit for this area for years and years and years," he said.
The Yorkville Republican met Monday with The Beacon News editorial
board, where he discussed transportation needs, the slumping economy
and how the black cloud surrounding U.S. Rep. Gary Condit has
affected Congress.
Hastert earlier this year met with Illinois Department of
Transportation officials to discuss plans for a new limited access
road west of Route 47. The road would connect Interstate 90 on the
north with Interstate 80 on the south and could include corridors
through Kane, Kendall and DeKalb counties.
Kane County land-use plans call for much of the land along the
county's western edge to remain agricultural. Some fear a new highway
will compromise that plan by attracting development.
Hastert acknowledged "political pressure not to do anything west of
(Route) 47," but touted the north-south road project as a regional
priority.
Limiting access to and from the road and forbidding certain kinds of
developments, such as strip malls, could help protect the current
geography, he said.
One Kane County Board member said such goals would be difficult to
achieve.
"I don't want to pooh-pooh the idea by any means," said board member
Karen Steve-McConnaughay, who serves as Transportation Committee
chairman. "We certainly want to work toward the goals of finding
creative new ways of eliminating that potential acceleration of
growth."
But Steve-McConnaughay, R-St. Charles, said county officials are
skeptical growth can be limited along a major highway.
"I've heard some concepts bantered about on how to control land use,"
she said. "But how realistic is that? It is very difficult."
Hastert said decisions must be made quickly before space for a
corridor, or centerline, becomes too difficult to assemble.
"If we don't, we lose the ability to do it," he said.
Even with fast-track approval, the project would not begin for
another eight to 10 years, state officials said in July. IDOT would
propose a corridor within the next year.
Hastert also stressed other transportation needs during a nearly
one-hour session with editors and reporters.
He said he supported expansion plans at O'Hare International Airport,
noting his constituents want little more than to "be able to park,
get on an airplane and for it to be able to fly."
Hastert said a proposal to build a third airport in Peotone was
"geographically" restrictive to Fox Valley residents, particularly
without north-south access.
He also called for more bridges spanning the Fox River, noting: "We
can get the money if we can get the siting (approval)."
Hastert said he hoped to see new bridges in Aurora and in St.
Charles.
The federal government has committed money toward bridge construction
on Sullivan Road at the Aurora-North Aurora line. The $11 million
project earlier this year appeared stalled between the two
communities over the purchase of rights of way.
Mayor David Stover, however, said construction should begin next
year. The bridge should be completed by 2003, he said. Beacon News
STAFF WRITER Steve Lord contributed to this report.