Morris Daily Herald
December 10. 2004
By Jo Ann Hustis
Herald Writer
LISLE – A grassroots organization apparently is prepared for legal action on the state’s proposed Prairie Parkway
in Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties.
“Obviously it requires funds and resources we’ll have to pull together,” noted Jan Strasma, chairman of Citizens
Against the Sprawlway, a volunteer group opposed to the 36-mile outer beltway proposition from Interstate 88 in
Kane County to Interstate 80 west of Minooka.
“We will carry on this fight as long as necessary to keep the Prairie Parkway from being built, and destroying
farmland and community,” he said today. “We’re not anti-growth, but we are anti-Prairie Parkway.”
The Illinois Department of Transportation conducted a public information meeting Thursday evening at White Oak
Elementary School in Morris, during which the transportation improvement concepts received during the June public
workshops were presented.
IDOT also reviewed the agency’s process for evaluating the concepts and explained the federal scoping process,
which is the beginning of the environmental review process.
Strasma attended a similar informational meeting in Sugar Grove Wednesday evening.
He said the Sugar Grove hearing was based on all the public comments taken during the spring sessions, which IDOT
then consolidated and searched for similarities.
“And distilled them down to kind of a western, central and eastern route, which is what they did on the previous
Prairie Parkway study,” he added.
“They also looked at arterial improvements, which would be expanding and upgrading existing highways, whereas the
Prairie Parkway expressway is an entirely new highway.”
IDOT’s study contract now calls for them to develop three corridors and selected one of the three as the preferred
corridor for a more detailed study, Strasma said.
“This seems to suggest they’re looking for one solution to the traffic problems, as opposed to many ways to make
it easier for people to travel in Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties,” he added.
“We think there are diverse traffic problems in the future that require multiple solutions.”
Strasma said CAS is finding it difficult to believe this study will come up with anything other than the Prairie
Parkway expressway.
“Since IDOT says it is one of the three priority projects in the state, and they’ve already picked the route,”
he said.
Strasma said the agency will continue to seek public comment on the project.
Once the final recommended route is selected, the agency will prepare the environmental impact statement, with
the public hearing and opportunity to comment on their recommendations.
“Ultimately , we may have to take legal action to make them broaden their assessment beyond just the Prairie Parkway,”
he said.
Rick Powell, of IDOT District 3, Ottawa, who was in charge of the Morris hearing, could not be reached for comment
at press-time today.
IDOT program director Clarita Lao, who also attended on behalf of the agency, said today there still is interest
from the public on the project.
She said one member of the public called the 150 different lines drawn on the map as a result of the June workshop
sessions a “spaghetti bowl.”
Another questioned why IDOT did not just go ahead and have the project done.
“We explained how we try to group the different alternatives (routes) through functional and regional screening,”
she said.
IDOT must follow all federal requirements on the project, she said, which includes public hearings and workshops.
Lao also noted she could not comment on the CAS.