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Aurora Beacon-News
December 7, 2006
Public, IDOT know either chosen route will hurt someone
Residents fearful of what they would lose if parkway is built
By HEATHER GILLERS Staff Writer
YORKVILLE -- Citizens questioned state transportation officials
Thursday on the cost, timing and environmental impact of the proposed
Prairie Parkway.
About 200 people attended a hearing at Yorkville Intermediate School,
one of their last opportunities to register a preference between two
proposed routes for the at least $1 billion, four-lane highway. The
state could begin work as early as 2009 on the planned road, which
would connect Interstate 88 in Kane County with Interstate 80 in Grundy
County.
The state is expected to choose early next year between the proposed routes, both of which begin near Kaneville.
One alternative, Route B-2, would run straight south, ending near
Morris, while the other, Route B-5 would run south to Hughes Road near
Yorkville, then swing east and end near Minooka. Not building any
parkway is a third option.
Local officials appear to favor Route B-5, which links residential
development to jobs and could spur economic growth. But for many
landowners present Thursday evening, the preferred route is one that
doesn't run through their property.
"How do you plan your future?" asked Judy Maierhofer whose sheep farm
west of Plattville lies in the path of the proposed Route B-5. "How do
you relocate me to an apartment complex? ... How do you put 30 sheep in
storage?"
State officials held a similar set of hearings last spring, but they
have since modified the two routes in an effort to lessen the parkway's
impact on the environment. Officials must collect and address area
residents' concerns in order to gain approval for the project.
Thursday, citizens examined maps and diagrams displayed in the school
gym, submitted written questions and comments on the parkway plan, and
gave verbal testimony to two court reporters. They worried that the
parkway would erode farmland and affect other natural resources.
Landowners wanted assurance that state officials would compensate them
for property IDOT claimed for the road. Some citizens wondered if
support for the parkway came only from public officials.
"We've had private citizens tell us that they like it, we've had
private citizens tell us that they don't like it," said IDOT Engineer
Rick Powell, saying the purpose of the meeting was to consider diverse
viewpoints ..
Most likely to find themselves in the parkway's path are people living
along the portion of the road that joins Route 30 west of Sugar Grove
to Route 71 southwest of Yorkville, a segment common to both B-2 and
B-5. Only about a quarter of the funding needed for the parkway has
been earmarked for the project, and officials have made that segment
their first priority.
The state could begin work on the stretch as early as 2009, and they
would likely be paving over the riverfront property Cindy Stradtfeld
has owned for two decades.
"Every night there are deer and foxes in our back yard," Stradtfeld
said, quickly adding that residents of traffic-clogged Kendall, Grundy
and Will counties "need the road." Asked what she thought of the
parkway plan, Stradtfeld shrugged her shoulders in resignation.
"There are pluses and minuses," she said.
A second hearing will be held today from 5:30 to 8 at White Oak Elementary School Gym, 2001 Dupont Ave., Morris.