Aurora Beacon-News
December 13, 2001
Kendall to review: Issue will be discussed again in January
By Mike Norbut
STAFF WRITER
YORKVILLE &emdash; Plans for the proposed outer-belt freeway will cause Kendall County officials to rethink their own ideas for an extension of Eldamain Road, though they said it's too early to say just how dramatic the changes may be.
Like it was for concerned residents, this week's public information hearing was the first time county officials got a glimpse of the state project's design and scope.
While they said they still need time to digest the magnitude of the proposal, one thing they knew for sure was it was very close to the proposed road that has been under debate for months.
"I think it does raise some questions about our Eldamain Road corridor," Kendall County Board Chairman John Church said. "If they're not new questions, they're at least ones that we'd want to take a second look at."
The freeway, which is being pushed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Yorkville, but opposed by some Kendall and Kane County officials, is designed to eventually connect Interstates 80, 88 and 90. The 400-foot-wide, 33-mile-long corridor would cut through the western half of Kendall County near Plano before crossing the Fox River and gradually curving east to meet Interstate 80 near Minooka.
The extension for Eldamain Road, as proposed, would cross the Fox River south of River Road and cut southwest to connect with Highpoint Road where it meets Fox Road. The route would follow Highpoint Road south until it nears Route 71. It would then break away from Highpoint Road, cross Route 71 about 500 feet to the east, and eventually join Lisbon Road.
"I really believe, in the end, we will pursue some kind of extension," County Engineer Francis Klaas said. "But there are things we're going to want to look at."
Because the proposed freeway does curve east south of the river, it gets considerably close to the Eldamain Road corridor. Because of that proximity, Church said the county may want to stop Eldamain Road at Route 71 rather than continue it all the way to Lisbon Road.
Many area residents and landowners are hoping the county doesn't see a need to extend Eldamain Road at all with plans for a four-lane highway so close.
For example, to say the extension of Eldamain Road would have an effect on the Hoover Education Center, which is owned by the Chicago Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, would be an understatement. It would mean acres of forest, camp sites and recreation land lost, not to mention a disruption to the serenity that now encapsulates the area, camp officials say.
"These kids aren't going to want to camp next to a super highway," camp ranger Jerry Watson said. "Unfortunately, if they want it to go through, there's not a lot that we're going to be able to say about it."
Klaas restated Wednesday that despite the proximity of the two proposed projects, he believes they will serve two totally different purposes. He said he plans to bring the possibly revamped Eldamain proposal to the Public Works Committee again in January for further discussion.
Whether County Board members agree, however, remains to be seen. Board members voted against setting a center line for the road last month because they wanted to review the state plans.
Even though setting a center line doesn't mean construction on the road would ever take place, county officials still might not approve the idea, said board member Marie Bracken, chairman of the county's Public Works Committee.
Based on the vote in November, "who knows if it'll ever pass," Bracken said.
That would be good news to the Boy Scouts, which stand to lose a lot of land to the progress of urbanization.
Observers say even in winter, it's hard to see the farm houses and barns across the river through the trees that coat the landscape at the Hoover Outdoor Education Center.
"It would be a shame to lose all this, definitely," Watson said.