Aurora Beacon-News
March 25, 2003
By Matthew DeFour
STAFF WRITER
The Illinois Department of Transportation has announced it will unveil
more detailed footprints for the Prairie Parkway next month and has
invited the public to submit their input.
The state agency will showcase aerial views of two possible paths for the $1 billion, 35-mile connector between Interstate 88 and Interstate 80, at hearings on April 4 at Yorkville High School and April 5 at White Oak Elementary School in Morris.
Both events are scheduled to run in the gymnasium from 5:30 to 8 p.m., with a formal presentation and question-and-answer session at 6:30 p.m.
Up to this point, the state has narrowed down the options to two ambiguous routes, which average 325 feet in width and run from Interstate 88 near Kaneville in Kane County, across the Fox River between Yorkville and Plano in Kendall County, and then either south to Interstate 80 west of Morris or southeast to Minooka in Grundy County.
The latest preliminary designs will reveal the specific 60-foot-wide, four-lane parkway, the right-of-way with bike paths and the location of interchanges at Routes 30, 34, 71, 52 and 47, as well as bridges to allow county and some township roads to cross.
As many as 13 less-traveled township roads on each proposed route,
or 18 total, would be interrupted according to the plans. IDOT
consulted with school districts and emergency officials to coordinate
optimal traffic rerouting, according to project studies and plans
engineer Rick Powell.
Route by end of year
Several existing commercial and residential buildings also are in the
path of the preliminary routes, though Powell could not say how many or
which properties would be affected.
"There's still some possible moves here and there," Powell said. "We will probably make a few adjustments based on the comments we receive at these meetings."
The plans are part of the $18 million Prairie Parkway Preliminary Engineering Study, which began in 2002. Since then, environmental groups, landowners and the Corridor Planning Group, consisting of officials from three counties and eight municipalities, have worked together to narrow down the parkway route from dozens of alignments within the original protected corridor to the two finalists.
IDOT is also conducting an environmental-impact study and expects to
hold public meetings on the results this fall, Powell said. The state
should make its final decision on the specific route by the end of this
year, with federal approval expected by the end of 2007.
Portion open in five years?
Because IDOT has secured only about a quarter of the total project cost
from federal and state sources, the parkway likely will be constructed
in drivable portions, beginning with a stretch from Route 34 south to
Route 71 and then from Route 34 north to Route 30, Powell said.
As more funding becomes available, additional stretches would be completed.
Under the current projected timetable, IDOT would begin property
acquisition and utility adjustments in 2008, with construction
beginning by 2009 and the first portions opening about two years after
that.