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August 4, 2002
By Mike Cetera
Sun news services
The state's next governor will play a large role in deciding if the designation of the Prairie Parkway corridor
sticks, regardless of the Illinois Department of Transportation's announcement last week.
Both Democratic nominee Rod Blagojevich and his Republican opponent, Jim Ryan, have been reluctant to endorse
the road, which would stretch through western Kane and Kendall counties. Each campaign has promised a review of
the project.
Blagojevich spokesman Billy Weinberg said the congressman would favor the highway only if it resolves congestion
without encouraging sprawl or damaging agricultural activities in Kane County.
"It's a project that requires further evaluation, and certainly part of that discussion, part of that evaluative
process, should be (examining) the concerns expressed by local officials," he said.
A spokesman for Attorney General Ryan called the highway plan "intriguing" and noted the need for future
consideration of a road.
"Jim Ryan is not going to be wed to any plan that's devised right now," spokesman Dan Curry said.
The IDOT corridor assignment does not prevent future administrations from altering or even discarding the plan
ó a point Kane County Board Chairman Mike McCoy used to question the timing of Wednesday's announcement by IDOT.
Along with the change in the governor's mansion, Transportation Secretary Kirk Brown is expected to retire at the
end of the year.
IDOT spokesman Dick Adorjan defended the agency Thursday, saying the designation beats a fall deadline for $15
million in federal money to conduct initial engineering, expected to take three to five years.
The agency expects to begin soliciting engineering firms this fall. Adorjan said he was unsure when the engineering
could get under way.
The designation protects a 35.8-mile-long, 400-foot-wide path, restricting major development and allowing the
state the right to a first offer if a landowner chooses to sell.
Road construction would not occur for at least a decade, and no funding outside the study has been secured, Adorjan
said.
The highway would serve as a connector from Interstate 88, running west of Route 47 in Kane and Kendall, to Interstate
80 near Minooka in Grundy County.
Area state lawmakers remain opposed to the project, despite minor route changes announced by IDOT.
"I do also believe that the bigger issue is the constitutional one concerning the power of a government
to restrict property rights when they're not even sure they're going to build," state Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora,
said Thursday.
Lauzen favored a plan suggested by McCoy to build the highway east of the corridor, but disagreed with siting
a route before proving a need and conducting environmental and community-impact studies.
Adorjan said the federal money for the engineering study, which includes a large environmental-impact study,
is tied to naming a corridor.
State Rep. Patricia Reid Lindner, R-Sugar Grove, said she had not seen the final map, but has been an opponent
because the route cuts through farmland. The minor changes attempted to prevent farm properties from being divided.
"First I want to see if the people that were against it before are still against it," she said. "They
are mainly my constituents."