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Chicago Tribune
December 6, 2001
Officials fear loss of land to sprawl
By William Presecky
Tribune staff reporter
A resolution passed Wednesday by the Kane County Board's Executive Committee "staunchly opposes" a proposed
expressway between Interstate Highways 90 and 80.
The full board is expected to consider the resolution next week, and its members, whoalso comprise the county Forest
Preserve Commission, are likely to vote on a similar protest from that group.
Board Chairman Mike McCoy (R-Aurora) requested the resolution. It states the proposed corridor, which could eventually
extend along the county's rural western edge, "is
contrary to the spirit and intent" of the county's farmland protection program, its 2020 Lane Resource Management
Plan and its 2020 Transportation Plan.
The route "would consume homes in Kaneville and devour land" sought for acquisition by the Kane Forest
Preserve District, the resolution states.
"The proposed outer-belt freeway would not relieve congestion," it reads, "but, rather, it would
ultimately increase congestion on county roadways, would be a huge growth engine
to Kane County and would foster patches of urban sprawl, while eroding the framework of managed growth which is
the foundation" of the county land use and transit plans.
McCoy said he was surprised at the lack of comment on the resolution Wednesday by the Executive Committee, the
group of chairmen from all county committees.
But he understands the caution, considering they appear to be bucking a project being fostered by Republican U.S.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Yorkville, who considers
the proposed beltway a necessary transportation link along Chicago's western fringe.
"At next week's board meeting, I intend to discuss it," McCoy said. "I feel right on the issue."
An informational hearing on the southern leg of the proposed highway corridor, from I-88 to I-80, is set for Tuesday
in Yorkville. McCoy said he plans to attend the entire hearing,
set for 4 to 7 p.m. in the Beecher Community Center, 980 Game Farm Rd.
Representatives of the Illinois Department of Transportation are expected to be available at the hearing to explain
how they propose to identify and record a 400-foot-wide by
33-mile-long swath of land as the preferred path for the expressway.
Although the corridor under review involves only about a 9-mile stretch of land through southern Kane, McCoy said
he has no doubt the state intends to pursue a total
expressway scheme, including a northern segment from I-88 north to I-90 through Kane.
McCoy said he believes most property owners do not understand the land-management power the state has within a
declared corridor protection area.
McCoy described corridor protection as "kind of a way of freezing up land" without expending funds. "This
is a huge power that IDOT has," he said. "I just don't think it's right."