Home | News Index | Projected Route of Northern Link | How to Oppose | Kane 2020 Plan
Daily Herald
December 6, 2001
By Alicia Fabbre
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Kane County Board Chairman Mike McCoy wants to put the brakes on a state project that would bring an expressway
to the western end of the county.
Members of the county board's executive committee Wednesday backed McCoy's resolution opposing the outer belt expressway.
The full board is expected to vote on the resolution Tuesday.
The resolution opposes an expressway that would link Interstate 80 to Interstate 88. Approximately nine miles of
the expressway would run through western Kane County - an area county board members want to keep rural. State officials
also are considering a northern extension of the bypass, which would include 21 miles through Kane County to link
I-88 to I-90.
"This would just throw our whole land-use plan into a different strategy," McCoy said. "We tried
to do a good job planning for growth. This would change that."
Although the resolution passed without discussion at committee, it likely will draw some debate Tuesday.
"I personally don't think we're ready to take a position," said Karen Steve-McConnaughay, who heads the
board's transportation committee.
Although Steve-McConnaughay backed the resolution initially, she said she may ask that it be delayed until after
the Illinois Department of Transportation conducts its public hearing, also on Tuesday. She also suggested other
committees, including her own, should review the issue.
"It may not change the outcome, but we need to look at all the facts before we make a decision," Steve-McConnaughay
said.
IDOT officials are conducting a public hearing from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Beecher Community Center, 980 Game Farm
Road, Yorkville. The hearing will focus on the southern portion of the route. IDOT officials are holding the hearing
before recording the expressway's southern corridor in Kendall and Kane counties.
IDOT officials have said there is no funding for any further studies on the route. Nor is there any funding to
build the expressway.
And although IDOT officials have mapped out a possible route for the northern portion, there is no funding for
further studies on that portion. IDOT officials added it has been more than a year since they have done any work
on that portion of the project.
"I'm a little surprised to see Kane County come up with that this early," IDOT engineer Jim Jereb said
of McCoy's resolution.
A spokesman for U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert echoed similar sentiments. Hastert has been a supporter of the
project.
"The congressman would be disappointed if the county board rushed to a conclusion before they had all the
facts on the proposal," Hastert spokesman Brandon Grometer said.
McCoy, however, said the county has the information it needs. He said he and other board members, including Steve-McConnaughay,
have reviewed a map for the southern route. McCoy also has a 3-year-old proposed route for the northern portion.
"I think we pretty much know the facts pretty well," said McCoy, who plans to attend the public hearing.
"I wouldn't want to see the board duck the issue by delaying it," McCoy said.
He added that he wants to get the board's comments on record at Tuesday's public hearing.
IDOT officials will accept written comments on the proposal for 30 days after Tuesday's hearing. Written comments
can be mailed to the Illinois Department of Transportation, 700 E. Norris Drive, Ottawa, IL 61340.