Elgin Courier-News
Nov. 26, 2006
By HEATHER GILLERS STAFF WRITER
The two highway plans diverge near Yorkville, and IDOT wants your help in choosing which one to take.
Over the next six weeks, the Illinois Department of Transportation is
collecting public comment on two possible routes for the proposed
Prairie Parkway. The routes have been revised since spring to lessen
the environmental impact of the parkway project.
The at least $1 billion, four-lane highway would connect Interstate 88
near Kaneville in Kane County to Interstate 80 in Grundy County.
Although only about $260 million has been set aside for the project,
construction could begin as early as 2009. Proponents say the road
eventually could hook up with Interstate 90 to the north.
One of the two proposed routes, Route B-2, would run straight south,
ending near Morris. The other, Route B-5 would run south to Hughes Road
near Yorkville, then swing east and end near Minooka.
"Really, public opinion is the only thing that's left" in the decision-making process, said IDOT engineer Rick Powell.
To that end, IDOT has scheduled two public hearings for early December,
at which the public can comment on the routes. One hearing will be Dec.
6 at Yorkville Intermediate School in Yorkville, and the second will be
Dec. 7 at White Oak Elementary School Gym in Morris.
Both proposed routes have planned interchanges at U.S. 30, U.S. 34,
Illinois 71 and U.S. 52, and B-5 would have a fifth interchange at
Illinois 47.
Not building any parkway remains a third option.
After residents weighed in on the proposed parkway routes at public
hearings in April, IDOT officials studied the road's potential
environmental impact and made some changes.
But the changes haven't been enough to win over Citizens Against the
Sprawlway, a group that prefers the parkway not be built at all.
State officials plan to meet with Citizens Against the Sprawlway this
week to review the two revised routes before the public hearings on
Dec. 6 and Dec. 7.
IDOT's environmental impact study and the resulting changes to the
parkway routes are available at www.prairie-parkway.com and also in
local public libraries.
It could be only two years before IDOT begins construction on what's
expected to be the most crowded segment of the parkway, the stretch
connecting U.S. 30 west of Sugar Grove to Illinois 71 southwest of
Yorkville. (The segment is common to both B-2 and B-5 and has been the
subject of the most in-depth engineering.)
But it is unclear when the state will see the at least $760 million
needed to finish the project, most of which is expected to come from
the federal government.
Powell acknowledged that political changes can affect the pace of funding.
Earlier this month Congressman Dennis Hastert, R-Yorkville, who
earmarked most of the existing money for the project in the 2005
federal transportation bill, lost the chance to remain speaker of the
House after Democrats won a majority of seats.
Powell said he did not know if or how the loss would affect the Prairie
Parkway. But he pointed out that many major highway projects span
several administrations and those roads are often constructed piecemeal.
"If the funding slows down you just build what you can until the
funding becomes available," Powell said. "We're just kind of working
ahead to the budget that we have."