As the Illiana Expressway still clings to life in court, we make no small plans

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The January 11 Daily Herald article by Marni Pyke asks if the proposed Illiana Expressway will get a thumbs-up or thumbs-down from the Rauner administration. In this piece, Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, is broadcasting a great message to both IDOT and the Governor.

One of the main reasons why the federal court invalidated the first environmental study for the proposed tollway was because IDOT used wildly inflated population and traffic projections that were out of sync with the county’s actual growth and our region’s collective vision in GO TO 2040.  Even under its amped up best case scenario, we would spend over a billion dollars on a road that, at its height, hardly anyone would use.  It’s money we can’t afford to squander.  The project would divert tax revenue away from needs in the area, our region, and across the state.

Rather than throwing good money after bad to triage a study of a flawed, bloated and unnecessary road, IDOT should support others in Will County that are focusing on solid win-win solutions, like fixing I-80 and I-55 to move trucks efficiently onto our interstate highway system and away from areas of conflict.  Late last year, the Will County Board took the significant step of removing the proposed tollway from its legislative agenda.  That should be a sign that the support for this project has evaporated, and we need to move forward with something better.

Through efforts like Will Connects 2040 and other studies, we hope that the recent federal funding for freight and highway improvements can open opportunities for smart long-term solutions that protect the globally significant natural assets in the area, like Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, while accommodating industrial growth.  We have a lot at stake.  Compressing truck traffic into rural communities and driving them through the heart of Midewin will further compound and exacerbate rather than alleviate problems.  We are already seeing tragic losses from truck accidents with local residents.  Misdirecting traffic onto 53 will also inject light, noise, and pollution into some of the rarest and most coveted habitat on earth.  We don’t need to make this sacrifice.  We have an unprecedented opportunity to involve all interests to benefit everyone involved. With what’s at stake, it’s important that we get it right.

–Stacy Meyers, Staff Attorney at Openlands

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