Aurora Beacon-News -- Series and related stories on Prairie Parkway
Aurora Beacon-News
June 19, 2006
The proposed
Prairie Parkway has elicited emotional debate over the role the 36-mile
outer beltway could play in the spread of suburban sprawl.
The Kendall County Board recently
voted to allow additional interchanges at Galena Road and Grove Road,
though the Illinois Department of Transportation does not plan to build
any county road interchanges as part of the $1 billion project.
The Kendall board's 8-2 vote reversed a position from October when six
board members voted against pursuing additional interchanges. Board
Chairman John Church and board member Anne Vickery have been vocal in
defending their opposing positions.
Pro: 'Economic development issue'
"I look at it as an economic development issue," Vickery said, noting
that when the parkway was first laid out, nobody anticipated the
growing number of rooftops the county has today.
"We have yet to see anything that could really add to the revenues in
southern Kendall County. The economic development in that area could be
incredibly important in this county for the jobs and the revenues with
the economic growth.
"If we're going to take all the pain, we've got to have some gain. Why
would we pass that opportunity for huge economic growth and not provide
access?"
Con: 'Additional interchanges ... additional traffic'
"We started with not having any interchanges to just having the state
roads," Church said, referring to what he believes has been a "slippery
slope" toward more access points than were originally discussed for the
expressway.
"There's always that concern about what additional interchanges would
do on county roads in terms of additional traffic and the type of
development."
"It would lend itself potentially to things that aren't called for in
our land use plan if you have interchanges out in rural areas. If you
get two on those county roads, do you want one on Newark Road and
Lisbon Road? Where does it all lead?"