Aurora Beacon-News
December 22, 2001
Alleviate congestion: Aldermen think truck traffic would use bypass
By Dave Parro
STAFF WRITER
YORKVILLE &emdash; Nothing has been decided yet on City Council support for a highway just outside town, but aldermen seem to be heading in that direction.
With prodding from Mayor Art Prochaska, an overt supporter of the 33-mile Prairie Parkway, council members this week discussed the proposed freeway pushed by their congressman, U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Yorkville.
While no decision was made on council support, some aldermen agreed with the mayor's argument that the four-lane freeway will be a vital transportation corridor as the county &emdash; and city &emdash; develops.
"To not plan for proper road alignments and transportation corridors is putting your head in the sand," Prochaska said.
Prochaska asked aldermen to submit comments to him in the next two weeks to be included in a resolution stating the council's position, which could be sent to the Illinois Department of Transportation to be included in the state's public comments on the project.
The resolution will be discussed next at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Jan. 8, three days before the IDOT public input period is scheduled to end. That will be the first meeting of next year, when the council switches its meeting day to Tuesdays.
The Kane and Kendall county boards have asked the state for an extension of the 30-day period, but IDOT has not yet indicated whether it will continue to accept comments after Jan. 11.
As the county rapidly has developed, traffic coming through Yorkville has outpaced the city's growth because so many state highways &emdash; Routes 34, 47, 71 and 126 &emdash; already run through the city. Traffic counts at the intersection of Routes 34 and 47 have grown by 200 percent in the past 10 years, Prochaska said, while the Yorkville's population has grown by 60 percent.
Some aldermen argued that a bypass freeway would attract the heavy truck traffic that comes through town and alleviate congestion, especially on Route 47.
"(Truck drivers) don't want to come through and stop," said Alderman Joe Besco, who said the truckers would jump at the chance to use a major bypass.
IDOT originally had discussed three possible corridors for the highway, which would connect Interstates 88 and 80 through Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties. The City Council seemed to think that the chosen corridor, just west of Yorkville, is generally the best choice because it's close enough to the development without cutting through densely populated areas.
"I think the fewer people affected, the better," Alderman Rich Sticka said, "and the longer we wait, the more people are going to buy property."
Prochaska agreed with IDOT that the centerline has to be recorded soon, before development makes it impossible. He cited the failed Fox Valley Freeway as an example of a project that was not possible because officials waited too long.