Kane County Chronicle
June 29, 2005
To the Editor:
The Illinois Department of Transportation is determined to cram the Prairie Parkway down the throat of Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties despite clear evidence that people would rather see their tax dollars spent on maintaining, improving and expanding existing highways.
June 30 is the last day for public comments in IDOT's look at possible solutions for present and future traffic needs in the three-county area. The state's anointed solution is the billion-dollar Prairie Parkway, running from Interstate 88 near Kaneville to Interstate 80 at Minooka, roughly paralleling Highway 47.
Transportation Secretary Tim Martin has proclaimed the Prairie Parkway as one of three top priorities for highway funding, and IDOT formally recorded the Prairie Parkway corridor in 2002, restricting the property rights of landowners along the route. If built, this 35-mile freeway would destroy 2,000 acres of farmland and ignite sprawl throughout rural areas. Already, developers are snapping up acreage, betting that the highway will be built.
Last fall, IDOT surveyed area motorists to gather the public's view on traffic problems. Not surprisingly, most said that they expected traffic congestion to increase in the next 10 years.
But they also told IDOT that they preferred road improvements throughout the area instead of one massive freeway project.
When asked for their top two solutions for reducing traffic congestion, almost three-quarters of those polled favored widening existing roads, improving intersections and adding new connecting routes, along with better coordination and planning. Just 10 percent included new freeways or expressways as the top solutions.
IDOT is now asking for comments on the highway alternatives spelled out on the IDOT Web site, www.prairie-parkway.com. (That hyphen in the web address is important, since without the hyphen, you'll go to a Web site run by the Illinois Road Builders Association.)
Another Web site for information is that of Citizens Against the Sprawlway, the grassroots group seeking better traffic solutions: www.sprawlway.org.
You can send your comments to IDOT at 700 E. Norris Drive, Ottawa IL 61350 or submit them through the IDOT Web site.
Today's traffic problems and those of the future are diverse. They require diverse solutions, giving motorists a variety of routes to reach their destinations. A single freeway project from I-80 to I-88 doesn't meet the needs of the three-county area. And its consequences -- loss of farmland, impact on the environment and accelerating sprawl -- are too great.
IDOT needs to get the message -- spend our tax dollars to fix, expand, and improve existing roads. We don't want a "one-size-fits-all" freeway that will open up more areas for growth without meeting our local travel needs.
Jan Strasma
Maple Park