Aurora Beacon-News
December 16, 2001
By Dave Parro
STAFF WRITER
Council on board? Resolution could be discussed next week
YORKVILLE &emdash; Some of the city's most-prominent business and community leaders have passed a resolution supporting the state's plans for an outer-belt freeway west of here.
The Yorkville Economic Development Corporation unanimously backed the Prairie Parkway at its board meeting Wednesday, a day after the Illinois Department of Transportation held a public hearing on the proposal.
A letter stating support was sent out Friday to IDOT and to state senators and representatives, the Yorkville Chamber of Commerce and U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Yorkville, who has been pushing the highway's planning.
"Since the public hearing happened on the 11th and our meeting happened the 12th, it was very timely for us to endorse it," said Lynn Dubajic, the corporation's executive director.
The resolution states that the area's rapid residential and business growth and high quality of life were taken into consideration when endorsing the project. It also says the board would like to see early location of the corridor, limited access points and minimal intrusion on residential property owners.
The letter, signed by Dubajic and Chairman James Liggett of Yorkville National Bank, also was sent to Yorkville Mayor Art Prochaska, who has asked the City Council to consider a similar resolution next week.
Prochaska said he wants to see a corridor for the freeway secured before it's developed and the opportunity is lost, as happened to the east.
Meanwhile, Kendall County Board Chairman John Church introduced a resolution to County Board members at Friday's Committee of the Whole meeting asking IDOT to extend its public input period for the highway from 30 to 120 days.
The resolution also requests the state to investigate alternative routes. Board members will vote on the resolution at Tuesday's meeting.
Prochaska cited the failed Fox Valley Freeway of the 1970s as evidence that waiting too long can make a north-south highway impossible because of the impending growth. He disputed claims that the Prairie Parkway would encourage growth and again pointed east for proof.
"The road wasn't there, but the growth happened anyway," he said.
The highway will alleviate the area's traffic congestion, Prochaska said, which already is growing faster than the rapid development in Kendall County. A limited-access freeway would push regional traffic off local roads, he said.
An overloaded road network can cause sprawl itself, Prochaska argued, because inflated traffic-count numbers make an area attractive to developers who otherwise would not have considered building there.
The highway has already been backed by the Greater Aurora Chamber of Commerce and the Aurora City Council. Staff writer Mike Norbut contributed to this report.