Chicago Tribune
April 11, 2007
Tribune staff reporter
KANE COUNTY -- Marvel Davis of Big Rock Township says that after five
years, she has a good grasp on the level of opposition to the so-called
Prairie Parkway.
The 79-year-old has been in the vanguard of a grass-roots campaign to
challenge the state's plan for the new north-south interstate highway
along Chicago's far west suburbs.
But what remains unclear, Davis said, is how many people favor the
proposal by the Illinois Department of Transportation to link
Interstate Highways 88 and 80 through Kendall and parts of southern
Kane and Grundy Counties.
The outcome of an advisory referendum question on Tuesday's ballot in
Kaneville and Big Rock Townships should help clear things up, she said.
At issue in the two townships is whether the state should build the
estimated $1 billion highway through farmland west of Illinois Highway
47.
State transportation planners are expected to announce a recommended
route this summer for the approximately 36-mile-long highway. The
agency is reviewing a raft of public comments.
The outcome of next week's advisory votes will have no bearing on
IDOT's pending review, nor will it affect the agency's selection of the
final alternative, said Rick Powell, Prairie Parkway project manager.
"The fight for the Prairie Parkway is going to be won in Springfield --
over funding," said Jan Strasma, chairman of Citizens Against the
Sprawlway. "IDOT is going through the process and getting prepared to
build the road . . . and doing what they have to do to get access to
the federal money."
"Withholding funding is what will stop it and . . . get the message
across that this project is not sound and that there are better
alternatives. Giving voice to two townships that are dramatically
affected by it will carry a strong message in Springfield," Strasma
said.
Davis said that although she has "every reason to believe that the
large number of people living in Kaneville and Big Rock Townships are
opposed to the roadway, there's a possibility that a lot of people
support it. I don't really know," she said. "The referendum should give
us a real idea of where the people here stand on this."
"Because I've kind of been in the forefront of the opposition, people
may not want to come up to me to tell me I'm all wet or that I'm
crazy," Davis said. "But I've honestly never had anybody come up to me
and say 'I think this road is a good idea.'"
A public forum and discussion on the pending referendum questions are
scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday in Kaneville Community Center, Main
Street and Harter Road.