Morris Daily Herald
March 7, 2005
Prairie Parkway study shows mixed opinions on how to address it
OTTAWA Growth is inevitable... or so it seems to respondents to a new Illinois Department of Transportation public
opinion survey.
A total of 61 percent of respondents in the primary area of the Prairie Parkway Preliminary Engineering Study believe
growth is inevitable and roads should be built or improved before traffic problems increase. In the secondary study
area, 59 percent of respondents shared this belief.
The primary area for the Prairie Parkway Preliminary Engineering Study includes municipalities such as Joliet,
Channahon, Minooka, Mont-gomery, Morris, area of Aurora, Big Rock, Oswego, Plano, Sandwich, Shorewood, Sugar Grove
and Yorkville.
The secondary area consists of municipalities such as DeKalb, Elburn, St. Charles, other areas of Aurora, Batavia,
Marseilles, North Aurora, Plainfield, Somonauk and Wilmington.
The research also showed 67 percent disagree that building major new roads would make traffic congestion worse.
Six percent of respondents oppose new roads because of the likelihood of bringing in too many people and increasing
traffic congestion.
The survey, conducted in late 2004, explored peoples driving habits, use of major area roads and public transportation,
their perceptions of the severity and reasons for traffic congestion in the region, how traffic congestion affects
their lifestyles, their solutions to traffic congestion and their environmental and quality of life concerns.
On average, the 1,000 survey respondents have lived in the far southwestern Chicagoland area for 24 years.
As IDOT researches viable transportation alternatives for this dynamic region, public involvement continues to
be a crucial component in the Prairie Parkway study, said Deputy Director of Highways Gregg Mounts.
In addition to looking at data such as population, employment, traffic and environmental impacts, the perceptions
and experience of the people who live in the study area must be included in order to reach the best solution.
Within the primary study area, 36 percent of the people surveyed say U.S. 34 is the most severely congested road.
Interstate 88 is believed to be the most severely congested road in the secondary area, named by 28 percent of
respondents.
On average, area residents reported spending 29.9 minutes driving to work. Business owners reported shorter commute
times, averaging 25.2 minutes.
A majority of residents (75 percent) felt that traffic congestion will get much worse over the next ten years.
Residents in both the primary and secondary areas most frequently cited too much development as the biggest contributing
factor to traffic congestion, ranking it 6.9 and 6.8 respectively on a 10-point scale.
Respondents were asked what they believe are the best solutions to traffic congestion. The top five solutions chosen
were:
Widening existing roads: 57 percent
Improving existing intersections, signals or turn lanes: 34 percent
Better coordination and planning: 28 percent
Building other new connecting roads: 25 percent
Building new freeways or expressways: 21 percent
Respondents said they would most likely use the following transportation options:
Other new connecting roads: 49 percent in the primary area; 51 percent in the secondary area
New freeways or expressways: 39 percent in the primary area; 44 percent in the secondary area
Added/Improved rail service: 23 percent in the primary area; 44 percent in the secondary area
The respondents who said they believe that new road construction is one solution to traffic problems were asked
whether north-south or east-west roads were most needed. The indicated:
North-south: 40 percent in the primary area; 23 percent in the secondary area
East-west: 14 percent in the primary area; 21 percent in the secondary area
Both: 51 percent in the primary area; 45 percent in the secondary area
The survey respondents were asked to rate their level of concern over the effects of transportation improvements
on a 10-point scale. The top five concerns were:
Water quality: 8.1 points in the primary area; 7.9 points in the secondary area
Cost to taxpayers: 8.0 points in the primary area; 7.5 points in the secondary area
Air quality: 7.9 points in both the primary and secondary areas
Loss of parkland or natural areas: 7.4 points in the primary area; 6.6 points in the secondary area
Loss of farmland: 7.4 in the primary area; 6.6 in the secondary area
The three top outcomes that commuters want new transportation improvements to achieve are:
Increased safety/fewer accidents: 8.0 points (on a 10 point scale)
Improved travel time for 20 miles or more: 7.6 points
Improved local travel: 6.8 points
Respondents rate the impact of traffic congestion on their lifestyles as generally moderate, saying it affects
their access to shopping and leisure/entertainment choices most. However, daily commuters are significantly more
likely to say that traffic congestion places limits on their choices of employment.
Cars, trucks and SUVs are the overwhelming transportation mode used, with 97 percent of the respondents saying
it was their primary mode. In contrast, 2 percent of survey respondents use Metra trains as their transportation.
This telephone research was conducted in October and November 2004 with a random survey of 1,000 residents within
the Prairie Parkway Preliminary Engineering study area.
The study area consists of all of Kendall County, the southern portion of Kane County, the northern portion of
Grundy County, the western portion of Will County, and the eastern portions of DeKalb and La Salle counties.
Employees of IDOT, government agencies, the road construction industry, public relations firms and advertising/
marketing agencies were ex-cluded from participating in the survey. The margin of error of the telephone survey
is ±3.1 percent.
The entire poll can be found at the Prairie Parkway Preliminary Engineering Web site: www.prairie-parkway.com.