Aurora Beacon-News
April 29, 2005
By Matt Hanley
STAFF WRITER
YORKVILLE — In June 2004, the Illinois Department of Transportation asked members of the public to draw on a huge
map any suggestion they had for decreasing traffic between Interstates 80 and 88.
The result looked like a multi-colored bowl of spaghetti, with long and short strands dashing in all directions
through five counties.
Thursday, IDOT gave a preview of condensed versions of those pasta-like proposals, with the hope of eventually
finding a way to relieve traffic congestion between the two interstates.
After 10 months of studies, IDOT essentially has narrowed the choices to 15 viable north-south routes that either
propose new freeways or widening existing roads. The plans are to be posted on IDOT's Web site in the next few
days and, then, presented to the public at open sessions in May.
Thursday, several themes rose out of IDOT's complicated studies:
• Freeways would solve more of the traffic problems identified by IDOT.
The stated goals of the study for the proposed Prairie Parkway are to improve regional mobility, address local
system deficiencies, improve access to regional jobs and improve safety. The five major freeway options met all
those goals far better than expanding local roads like Route 47 — or even improving several smaller arterial roads.
Two potential freeway routes received the highest scores for meeting those goals: first, a highway that hugs the
west border of Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties and passes through Sandwich; and second, a freeway that moves
along a parallel path, but passes just west of Plano.
• Crossing the Fox River east of Yorkville would have the highest environmental impact.
Any new freeway would have to find a way to cross the environmentally sensitive Fox River. The three potential
roads west of Yorkville would cause the least problems, according to IDOT's studies.
The Sandwich and Plano freeways would cross the river around Millington and, according to IDOT's studies, would
create the least environmental damage. Two other crossings — one near where Orchard Road crosses the Fox River
just west of Oswego, and a second west of the Bristol Ridge Road intersection with Route 34, east of Yorkville
— appeared to both have the highest cost and worst potential impact on open space and natural areas.
• Expanding existing arterial roads would have less impact on traffic and the environment.
"It's basically a trade-off," IDOT engineer Rick Powell said. "How much can you give up?"
Expanding current roads would not cause as many environmental problems, but IDOT studies showed even two expanded
small roads might not relieve as much congestion as one freeway.
To this point, only the media and a few involved municipalities have seen the condensed road routes.
Powell said the plans have received mixed comments on both sides of the median. One town will say the plans encourage
urban sprawl by placing it too far from municipal borders; the next complains about bisecting an established urban
area.