Morris Daily Herald
March 28, 2006

Comments sought on parkway routes

Public meetings set April 4 & 5

By Jo Ann Hustis
Herald Writer

More comment is sought on two alternative routes for the proposed Prairie Parkway linking Interstate 88 in Kane County to Interstate 80 in Grundy County.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is conducting one of two public informational meetings on Wednesday, April 5, at White Oak Elementary School, 2101 DuPont Ave., Morris. Both meetings are from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

The first meeting is at Yorkville High School in York-ville on Tuesday, April 4. The school is located at 797 Game Farm Road.

Both meetings will include a short presentation, beginning at 6:30 p.m., followed by a question and answer session. IDOT representatives will be on hand throughout both evenings to discuss the study results with the public on a one-on-one basis.

Updates will also be provided on the next steps for the project. The two meetings are the latest step in the Prairie Parkway preliminary engineering study.

“IDOT is going to tell us what is a more precise route of where they would like to build the Prairie Parkway and how it’s going to affect people,” noted Jan Strasma of Big Rock, who chairs the 1,000-member Citizens Against the Sprawlway, a grassroots organization.

“They are going to tell us what roads are going to be closed off, where the crossing of environmental sensitive areas might be. What they probably won’t tell us is the effects on the roads on congestion and sprawl,” he said Monday.

“They’re interested in building a road, not in what the effect is going to be on the people living in Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties.”

IDOT officials said the public will be able to see at the meetings the number of draft changes to the previously recorded corridor, as well as the proposed B-2 roadway location south to I-80, and widening of Illinois 47 south of Caton Farm Road.

The B-2 Corridor is located about four miles west of Morris in the Saratoga-Pioneer Road area in Saratoga and Nettle Creek townships.

Crossroads identified for closure along the B-2 straight-south corridor are Nelson, Hill, Apakesha and Hughes roads, as well as Bushnell School Road.

The alternate B-5 Corridor is about three miles west of Minooka in Aux Sable Township, and connects with I-80 near Tabler Road. The corridors are generally 2.5 miles wide each.

Crossroads identified for closure along the B-5 Corridor are Church and Chicago roads, Helmar Road West and South; and Immanuel, Schaefer, Sears, Jones, Wheeler and Lasher roads.

Public feedback is being sought during the hearings on the proposed road closures. These roads will also be the subject of a future road closure hearing, IDOT said.

The two alternatives are the result of IDOT’s environmental field investigations and engineering studies. The agency also worked closely with environmental groups, landowners, communities and the volunteer advisory Corridor Planning Group.

IDOT said in a prepared news release the two alternatives are still under study for their environmental impacts, and slight adjustments are continuing.

“Every effort is made to provide the most travel benefits, the greatest compatibility with local land use plans, and the least environmental and development impacts,” IDOT said in the news release.

“The slight adjustments are necessary to provide the greatest benefits to the communities, while minimizing impacts to the environment.”

Strasma said the only thing Citizens Against the Sprawlway can do about the issue is to continue informing IDOT there are better solutions than building a beltway between the two interstates.

“And that is to put their money into Illinois 47 and other north-south routes without building a whole new highway, as it will destroy farmland and accelerate sprawl,” he said.

Strasma was not aware if IDOT officials were listening to the grassroots organization.

“It wouldn’t appear they are hearing the message, since they continue to focus solely on building the Prairie Parkway. They assume there are going to be improvements to other routes, but their money is still going into the Prairie Parkway,” he said.

“What our leaders in the three counties should be asking is, ‘What are we going to sacrifice in order to pay for the Prairie Parkway? What road projects won’t be built, because the money is going into the Prairie Parkway?’”