Daily Herald
March 3, 2005
By Leslie Hague
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Both sides of the Prairie Parkway debate say a new survey bolsters their arguments for or against the proposed
north-south expressway.
In the survey, commissioned by the Illinois Department of Transportation, 1,000 randomly selected residents were
asked last fall for their driving habits and opinions on transportation needs.
IDOT expects to officially release the study later this week, said spokesman Matt Vanover. However, the anti-Prairie
Parkway group Citizens Against the Sprawlway posted online this week a draft of the report sent to them for comment.
Both IDOT and Citizens Against the Sprawlway officials Wednesday focused on different opinions in the poll related
to the proposed arterial, which would connect I-88 and I-80 through Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties.
IDOT officials highlighted that residents were frustrated with the traffic situation.
"I think what you'll find is that an overwhelming majority of people feel traffic will get much worse over
the next 10 years and that an overwhelming majority feel new roads should be built before traffic problems increase,"
Vanover said.
The report put that number at 61 percent.
But Citizens Against the Sprawlway pointed to statistics from another query in the 39-question survey which asked
residents to rate their first- and second-best solutions to traffic congestion.
When asked what the best solution was, 36 percent of people said widening existing roads, 14 percent said better
coordination and planning, 12 percent said improving existing intersections and 7 percent said adding or improving
rail service, according to a draft copy of the report.
Twelve percent said new freeways or expressways and 11 percent said building other new connecting roads, according
to the draft. Other answers were all under 5 percent.
"Our interpretation is that people want to be improving and adding to existing roads as opposed to a whole
new Prairie Parkway," said Jan Strasma, spokesman for the group.
It is clear that with a new expressway so far down on the list that residents don't want it, Strasma said.
"IDOT is clearly trying to make an effort to reach out to the public," he said. "I would hope they
would put significant weight to what the public is telling them."
The survey polled 850 residents from "primary" areas that would be affected by the road, including Sugar
Grove, Big Rock and Aurora's 60506 zip code. An additional 150 residents were polled from "secondary"
areas, including Batavia, Elburn, Geneva, Maple Park, North Aurora and St. Charles.