Morris Daily Herald
May 12, 2005
Single optional Prairie Parkway route possible by summer
By Jo Ann Hustis
Herald Writer
OTTAWA – The state wants to recommend a single alternative to the Prairie Parkway proposal by mid-summer.
“Or a very small number of alternatives to carry forward for further study,” noted Rick Powell, project engineer
with District 3, Illinois Department of Trans-portation, Ottawa.
The one or more recommendations will be based on comments IDOT is gathering through public meetings, such as one
in Morris attended by about 80 people Wednesday evening and Tuesday evening’s public session in Sugar Grove with
about 150 people, Powell said today.
IDOT is taking written comment on the proposal up to June 13. Comments may be mailed to Powell at District 3, 707
E. Norris Dr., Ottawa, Ill., 61450, or sent on the Web at www.dot.il.gov, then click on the e-mail form at the
left on the screen.
The Prairie Parkway proposal is an approximately 36-mile length of highway designed to link Interstate 88 in Kane
County with Interstate 80 either in or west of Grundy County, depending on the location selected.
There is no funding yet in the federal transportation bill for the Prairie Parkway beyond that already committed
to the end of the study phase. No funding is committed at this time for the right-of-way and design phase of the
proposal.
The parkway concept is meeting opposition from various organizations and volunteer groups. No representatives from
the opposition commented Wed-nesday evening, however, Powell said.
In fact, only one written comment was submitted Wednesday. It involved the timing of the traffic lights on Illinois
47 in Morris, he noted.
“But, we’re very early in collecting comments. In general, people in municipalities in the southern part of the
study area (and) some property owners have location issues — concern about severance of parcels and such,” Powell
added.
“As to the general trend as to what alternative is being favored by the public, I’m not detecting anything there.
What I find surprising in communities such as Morris and Minooka is interest in connecting to Brisbin Road.”
Powell said several comments Wednesday evening involved both the negatives and positives in connection with Brisbin
Road.
Brisbin Road is the site of a proposed Interstate 80 interchange, which is currently in the initial planning stages.
“We’re happy participation in the public meetings is increasing, and I expect more comments through the mail,”
Powell said. “It’s hard to get a read on people’s thinking during the meeting. Until we give people time to respond,
it’s too early to characterize how people feel.”
Powell said there was not a lot of negativity Wednesday toward a freeway as an option. Some commented at the Sugar
Grove meeting the parkway should be located east of Illinois 47.
“We also got some comments that if you widen Illinois 47, it will turn into another Illinois 59-Randall Road (St.
Charles) situation,” he said.
“There is almost unanimous opinion that something be done with Illinois 47, and also on the WiKaDuKe Trail (a combination
of arterial roads east of Yorkville). Whether these are real projections or just pipe dreams, I don’t know.”
Powell said Ridge Road will be widened to five lanes in one area next summer. Also, developers have to build their
side of the road on some sections at WiKaDuKe Trail, he said.
Some people were surprised Wednesday evening at IDOT’s proposal for a Prairie Parkway alternate just north of Seneca
in La Salle County, Powell said. IDOT has 15 alternates on its slate at present.
“Some people saw the benefits to that. We haven’t talked to Seneca (officials) about it yet,” he said.
Powell said IDOT has to take a balanced approach to choosing the route because economic, agricultural and environmental
interests figure into the selection, as do travel benefits.
In a printed news release, Janice Metzger, lead researcher on the Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission,
noted Monday IDOTs study for the proposed Prairie Parkway has “some extremely serious flaws that must be corrected
if consideration of the parkway is to be based on fact rather than supposition.”
Metzger said the commission’s study found large percentage changes to small base numbers exaggerate the need for
a highway in western Kane and Kendall counties.
Also the demographic analysis is inflated by including total population in counties in or near this study area.
Metzger said all of Will County’s population is included, although only a sliver of the county falls within the
study area.
She said IDOT’s safety analysis does not differentiate between current and projected fatal and serious injury accidents,
and property damage crashes.
Neither did IDOT begin an inventory of environmental and historic assets that would be impacted or destroyed by
the proposed parkway, Metzger noted.
She also said IDOT’s public involvement still leaves a great deal to be desired.
“Populations most frequently asked to take part in public involvement activities were disproportionately representative
of sparsely populated sections of the region rather than from the congested eastern corridor,” she said in the
release.