Aurora Beacon-News -- Series and related stories on Prairie Parkway
Aurora Beacon-News
June 20, 2006
Opportunity knocks for local towns
By Matthew DeFour
Staff writer
The neighboring
villages of Big Rock and Sugar Grove have reached an impasse over their
boundary, a disagreement that has played out like two brothers arguing
over a new toy.
The new toy in
this case is the proposed intersection of the Prairie Parkway and Route
30 and the tax dollars that such a transportation hub could generate in
southwest Kane County.
Like other towns
anticipating access to parkway interchanges, Big Rock and Sugar Grove
both talk about the economic development possibilities they foresee
along Route 30.
But whereas
Sugar Grove has always seen the corridor as a potential growth area,
Big Rock has wanted to maintain a more rural character.
"The village has
looked at that area west of the Aurora Municipal Airport as a growth
area for industrial since before the Prairie Parkway was conceived,"
Sugar Grove Administrator Brent Eichelberger said. "Certainly if the
Prairie Parkway is built, those plans that were conceived before it was
proposed would happen sooner rather than later."
For years, Sugar
Grove expected its western boundary to extend to Dauberman Road. The
town's comprehensive plan showed the area as eventually changing from
farmland to industrial office parks.
In 2001, fearing
encroachment from the east, the citizens of Big Rock voted to
incorporate as a village. Since then, Big Rock officials have expressed
an interest in extending their boundary to the Big Rock Township border
at Dugan Road, about two miles east of Dauberman.
"The zoning of
that area in time will change because we would like to be in that same
position as Sugar Grove," Big Rock Administrator Rick Sacks said. "If
industrial and commercial come, we would like to take advantage if it's
appropriate for the village."
Last month,
officials from both towns met to hash out the line. Sugar Grove offered
to pull back to the Prairie Parkway corridor, slightly east of
Dauberman, but Big Rock's final offer was Camp Dean Road, about a mile
east of the parkway. In the end, officials "agreed to disagree,"
leaving the ultimate decision up to the landowners as to which town to
join.
The disagreement
illustrates the strategic importance of the Prairie Parkway to local
towns, many of which have been the primary proponents of the 36-mile
outer beltway that will connect Interstates 88 and 80.
Towns pushing for parkway
Though it's true
individual landowners, businesses and developers stand to benefit from
the Prairie Parkway, especially as it fosters economic growth
potential, the real advantage goes to the towns that will receive a
boost in tax dollars to help offset some of the fastest population
growth in the nation.
Increasingly
since the Prairie Parkway was conceived, local government officials
have been involved in the planning process with the Illinois Department
of Transportation. In the last six months, IDOT has involved officials
from the eight affected towns and the three affected counties in its
corridor planning group.
As a result IDOT has adjusted its plans to accommodate the towns.
For example, Big
Rock Village President Doug Porch noted that many in town do not
welcome the prospect of an interchange at Route 30, and instead hope to
see a bypass built around the town. In its latest plans, IDOT shifted
the interchange to avoid a historic farmstead and make a future bypass
more plausible.
As another
example, Yorkville's southern planning boundary is West Helmar Road,
but the protected parkway corridor from 2002 was drawn a few miles
south of that border. With Caton Farm Road expected to be a regional
commercial center, IDOT shifted its planned route for the parkway three
miles north so that the Route 47 interchange would be within
Yorkville's boundaries.
"I'm not aware
that the city ever petitioned that move," Yorkville Development
Director Travis Miller said. "The farther south (the parkway) goes, the
farther south the development is going to go from Yorkville. From a
planning standpoint it would make sense to keep that as far north as
they can."
In Minooka, town
officials recently met with IDOT about the possibility of including a
local access interchange at Grove Road, which the Kendall County Board
recently sanctioned.
IDOT is only
interested in building interchanges on state and U.S. highways, and
there are no plans to build a local access on-ramp at I-80. But Minooka
does not support the project if there is no local access, Village
President Jason Briscoe said.
"One of the
biggest contingencies was that Minooka have access to a local
interchange," Briscoe said. "That was our major goal in being
cooperative with the Prairie Parkway, to help the taxpayers of Minooka."
Plano up first
Plano likely
will benefit the most from the Prairie Parkway, as IDOT has said there
is only enough funding to build the expressway in sections, starting
between Route 34 and Route 71 and Route 34 and Route 30. Those sections
could open by as early as 2011, IDOT has said.
Plano Mayor Bill
Roberts said he first learned about the Prairie Parkway after he was
elected five years ago, right before it was announced to the public.
Though he had many reservations about its effect on quality of life, a
greater need existed to alleviate the traffic problem.
The economic benefit also couldn't be ignored.
"No one will
tell you that this was ever designed as an economic development tool,
but it can't be helped," Roberts said. "Our expectation is along with
this will come retail that will help our sales tax base.
"Also," Roberts
added, "because of the ease of access for trucking companies and
warehouses, maybe we'll be able to cover our acres with something that
doesn't put kids in our school district."