News Reports about Prairie Parkway

Aurora Beacon-News
November 28, 2007

State outlines protected area for Parkway

By CHRISTINA CHAPMAN
Staff writer

The route of the Prairie Parkway has not changed, but the protected area around the proposed parkway has been revised to reflect the chosen route.

"The intent is to have the Corridor Protection Map replicate (the chosen route) because the old map is outdated," said Rick Powell, studies and plans engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation. "We didn’t want the old map out there any later than (we) had to because it affects the land owners."

IDOT chose a path for the parkway in June commonly know as “B5,” which is a $1 billion, 37-mile, four-lane highway that connects Interstates 80 and 88. B5 starts at I-80 near Minooka, northwest near Caton Farm Road proceeding north through Kane and Kendall counties then connecting to I-88 by Kaneville. Also part of the project is the widening of Illinois 47 from I-80 to Caton Farm Road, but this is not part of the corridor map.

The Corridor Protection Map outlines estimated right-of-ways for the highway and outlines property lines. This map preserves the area for the future parkway and allows municipalities, land owners and developers to plan for the future without having to guess where the roadway will be, Powell said.

With the final route chosen the map had to be amended from the original done in 2002. Now that it is revised, property owners within the map area have to notify IDOT before developing or making any improvements on their land. IDOT then gets first dibs on the property to protect the corridor.

Copies of the map can be obtained at www.prairie-parkway.com or at the IDOT district office at 700 E. Norris Drive in Ottawa.

The next step is for IDOT to finish the Prairie Parkway Final Environmental Impact Statement and Design Report, and to get federal permission to move forward with the project, which could be by the end of this year or beginning of 2008. IDOT also plans to begin acquiring land in 2008 and begin part of the road construction by 2009.

IDOT held public hearings July 11 and 12 in Yorkville and Sugar Grove on the proposed routes for the parkway.

There is $207 million available in federal funds for the project, but 20 percent of the money used has to be matched by the state, which still has to be appropriated by the legislature, Powell said.