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Joliet Herald-News
July 25, 2001
By Dave Parro
STAFF WRITER
Some officials seem receptive to a proposed north-south highway that U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert is pushing
for western Kane and Kendall counties — as long as their concerns are met.
In a renewed push to get an "outer-belt" freeway built through the far western suburbs, Hastert, R-Yorkville, has met with Illinois Department of Transportation officials to discuss preliminary plans to build a new limited-access road west of Illinois 47, connecting Interstate 80 on the south to Interstate 90 on the north. Possible corridors for the highway include routes through Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties and possibly into DeKalb County.
State officials want to get a route drawn out in the next year for a proposed
highway before the land disappears to new development.
Kane County's long-term land-use plan calls for areas west of Route 47 to remain farmland, and some people fear
a new highway will compromise that plan by attracting more development. Mike McCoy, Kane Country Board chairman,
said Tuesday that while construction of the north-south highway might not be in accordance with the county plan,
it might be justifiable in the long-term.
However, if the project becomes a reality, McCoy said he hopes it can be built with the county's agricultural concerns
in mind by making the freeway a transportation corridor rather than a development corridor. Historically, though,
McCoy said he knows new high-capacity roads ultimately lead to urban sprawl.
"We're kind of worried that a road on our western edge would define the edge of the Chicago region,"
he said. "And then we would lose our agricultural character."
1997 plan flops
The idea for a western highway is not a new one; IDOT proposed a plan in 1997 that would have built a four-lane
freeway connecting Interstate 88 to I-90. Those plans were put on hold because Kane County officials wanted more
time to discuss planning agreements with its western towns.
State Rep. Patricia Reid Lindner, R-Sugar Grove, said she hopes the next proposal will move the corridor further
west, away from developed areas and outside Kane County.
Lindner said she opposed the 1997 plan because her constituents did not want the right-of-way to be built so close
to their communities. She said she sees the need for a new highway as a bypass to relieve congestion, but she hopes
it will be built well outside the metropolitan area.
"(The 1997 plan) went through a lot of my towns and villages, and people weren't happy about it," she
said. "And I would assume that wouldn't happen with this one."
Relieving congestion
The idea for the freeway is to divert traffic from the congested outer metropolitan highway system and smaller
state roads, and also would serve an area bound to grow in the coming decades, said Hastert aides and IDOT officials.
"We have so many east-west roads in northern Illinois, but the suburbs don't have a good north-south road,"
said Brandon Grometer, Hastert's district director. "The speaker feels it's important now because if you don't
get it secured now, you're never going to get it."
The highway would also provide better access for western suburban residents to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
as well as to a proposed regional airport in Peotone, officials said.
Alignment and exact location of the road have not been determined, and IDOT spokesman Dick Adorjan said even fast-track
construction would put the start of the project eight to 10 years away. Adorjan said it will be 10 to 12 months
before IDOT proposes a specific corridor.
Grometer said Hastert wants to start planning now so western counties don't make the same mistake as counties to
the east, such as DuPage, where officials have faced the problem of development outpacing road construction and
leaving little land for high-capacity routes.
"It goes back to the old question," Grometer said. "Do you plan for the growth that's bound to happen,
or do you wait for it to happen and then it's too late?"
Some opponents say that while development might eventually be a possibility for the areas that are now farmland,
building a new corridor would ensure the rapid expansion of the Chicago area. Mike Truppa, a spokesman for Chicago-based
Environmental Law and Policy Center, said the north-south highway would "roll out the red carpet" for
urban sprawl.
"Whether the development happens remains to be seen," Truppa said. "This road project would be a
guarantee for huge development in that region."
Project's obstacles
The highway project faces financial and environmental hurdles that could challenge its feasibility. Hastert hopes
to secure funding through a federal transportation bill, and the plan must undergo an environmental review that
could take years. Political opposition could also mount once the corridor is chosen.
The 1997 IDOT corridor would have connected I-88 to I-90 along the western edges of Elburn and Lily Lake and to
the northwest between Burlington and Hampshire. McCoy said he has seen several proposed corridors, which seem to
extend the original plan south to I-80. Though plans are preliminary, he said he hasn't seen proposals that would
change the original northern alignment plans.
Once several corridors have been identified, Adorjan said IDOT will hold public hearings to discuss the proposal.
Those would most likely take place within four to five months, he said.
Contact Dave Parro at (630) 801-5495 or dparro@scn1.com.
07/25/01