News Reports about Prairie Parkway

Aurora Beacon-News
February 11, 2007

Work on the Prairie Parkway is still set to begin

By HEATHER GILLERS Staff Writer

YORKVILLE -- Work on the Prairie Parkway is still set to begin as early as 2009, but state officials have postponed picking a final route in order to address concerns about farmland and water protection.

The Illinois Department of Transportation now expects to choose in late spring between two proposed paths for the $1 billion, four-lane highway, which would connect Interstate 88 in Kane County with Interstate 80 in Grundy County.

Officials put off the decision, originally set for early this year, to consider the preferences of state and federal environmental agencies that would have to sign off on the project at a later stage.

"They are very concerned with ... loss of prime farmland and impact on agricultural areas and so forth," IDOT engineer Rick Powell said this week.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture, for example, prefers the longer proposed route, known as B-5, which would run from near Kaneville south to Hughes Road near Yorkville, then swing east and end near Minooka.

The other alternative, Route B-2, which would also begin near Kaneville but end near Morris, "would travel north and south through prime agricultural areas," said spokesman Jeff Squibb of the Department of Agriculture, which is planning to submit a report to transportation officials supporting the B-5 option.

"From an agricultural perspective, the Minooka-to-Yorkville alignment would require the conversion of fewer acres" of farmland to roadway, Squibb said.

Other agencies have suggested modifications to both routes rather than expressing a preference.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources advised transportation officials to redesign a bridge over the Fox River, said spokesman Marcelyn Love, "just to lessen the impact on the land."

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are among the other agencies from which the Transportation Department expects to consider input on the proposed routes.

Local officials appear to favor Route B-5, because it snakes through areas slated for development and offers easy commutes to jobs. Some environmental groups advocate not building any parkway, which officials say remains a third option.