Yesterday's Press Conference in Support of the Route 53 Extension Referendum

From the News Sun, GRAYSLAKE -- Pro-Route 53 groups are hoping Lake County's advisory referendum Tuesday will provide long-sought consensus on extending the highway north to Route 120.

The "Build 53 Yes Coalition" ramped up its campaign to bring out a favorable vote Wednesday afternoon with signs, banners and speakers in favor of the controversial project.

The group includes labor and business organizations, as well as some municipal representatives and officials of the Lake County Farm Bureau.

"I'm excited Lake County has taken steps to bring it to an advisory referendum," said Round Lake Mayor Bill Gentes, who said he supports the extension because it will help alleviate congestion and bring people closer to jobs and, hopefully, jobs to Lake County.

"I'm talking about quality of life. Here in Round Lake, commuting is terrible," he said. "Route 53 would help people get off the roads sooner and home with their families."

Gentes said the extension would make it easier for central Lake County commuters to make it to job destinations along the Lake-Cook Road and Tri-State Tollway corridors, as well as attracting more business locally.

"It's bringing everything a little closer to the front burner, something we definitely need in order for this to happen," Dwight Houchins, president of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, said of the referendum.

Houchins said the extension would "certainly promote commerce and industry" in the county. "It's an improved way to get around the county," he said.

Greg Koeppen, manager of the Lake County Farm Bureau, said the bureau has supported the extension for more than a decade because traffic problems are the top problem in the county.

"It affects farmers trying to move from field to field, too," Koeppen said. "Picture a combine that's backed up along with your regular SUVs."

Koeppen said development is going to come to Lake County with or without the extension, and current roads are not keeping up.

Grayslake Mayor Tim Perry said his village has supported the extension and he hopes the advisory referendum demonstrates countywide support to state officials.

"Traffic congestion is the number one roadblock to economic development," Perry said. "At the very least, whether we ever build 53, the voters of Lake County need to send a message to Springfield that we need traffic relief and we need it now."

Comcast Newsmakers

Recently I taped Comcast Newsmakers which appeared last week on Comcast as a tie in to CNN Headline News, I have done this a few other times and always enjoyed myself. This time the topics I talked about were the 120 Bypass, Route 53 and finances. As always I had a great time. The video is about 5 minutes long.

New Road Projects on Horizon

From Yesterday's Daily Herald.

Five road projects, some too complicated and expensive to have been realistically considered before, are on Lake County's fast track.

Transportation officials on Wednesday unveiled a list of road work projects to be paid for with increased sales tax revenue, authorized last year as part of a Regional Transportation Authority reform.

Nearly $11 million is being proposed for the required first stage of study for five major projects. The county board's public works and transportation committee supports the choices, which go to the county board next week for official approval.

The suggested projects are:

• $3.54 million for Route 83/Rollins Road/Canadian National Railroad/Hainesville Road intersections.
• $2.14 million for Route 45 at Millburn Road.
• $980,000 for Route 176/Fairfield Road.
• $1.92 million for Route 134/Fairfield Road/Metra railroad intersections.
• $2.15 million for Washington Street, Hainesville Road to Lake Street and Canadian National railroad crossing.

In each case, the money is being designated for preliminary engineering, also referred to as Phase 1 of a given project. That process takes about two years.

"The purpose of the Phase 1 study is to find out what's the best solution," said Marty Buehler, director of transportation. "We're looking for the long-term improvement."

The solution could be an overpass or underpass, which is much more involved than adding lanes or widening an intersection. The Route 83/Rollins project in Round Lake Beach, for example, would have a major impact on businesses.

County officials say the projects will include a significant amount of public involvement, such as a business task force for the Route 83/Rollins project.

The concerns would be different at Fairfield/Route 176, which has forest preserve property on all four corners. In that case, environmental impacts would be the main concern.

Whatever the decisions, the county is making a point of moving as quickly as possible to use its new source of revenue.

Collected since last summer, the sales tax is expected to provide the county with more than $29 million a year in new revenue - more than doubling its current road work budget.

"We wanted to put the money to work as quickly as possible so people see we mean business to get projects done," said Paula Trigg, director of planning and programming for the division of transportation.

The list presented Wednesday is not the first expenditure of the new sales tax funds. About $3 million already has designated as a local match for the reconstruction of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive from Sheridan Road to Green Bay Road, a $12 million project.

Last year, the county board voted to spend all the new sales tax money on road work, although other uses such as public safety projects also are allowable.

About 60 percent of the county funds are designated for state road projects that are considered perennial bottlenecks the Illinois Department of Transportation has not had the funding to pursue.

Lets Talk Roads

Route 53! Is it the great white whale? Or is it the solution to all Lake Counties Traffic ills? I do know what it is, probably the single most polarizing issue in Lake County for the 20-30 years.

Anyone who drives a car through western Lake County can see that the old country roads are woefully inadequate to today's traffic-that wider, faster roads like the 53 extension are sorely needed. It's simple common sense-so why the big fuss?

The real opposition, the moneyed, vocal opposition, is coming from a different group: the NIMBYs. (NIMBY stands for "not in my back yard.")

In some ways, it's understandable. Given a choice, most everyone would prefer not to have a major thoroughfare running right by their neighborhood. If it were possible, we'd all like to live in the peace and quiet of a quaint nineteenth century village, while having all the modern conveniences at the same time. But, of course, that isn't possible. There are always tradeoffs.

Think about it: any highway that services a highly populated area is going to have to run close to someone. To those who live in proximity to the proposed route I say instead: let's work together, rather than against one another. The need for adequate roads is a fact of modern life, like the need for power lines, water mains, and rail lines. Rather than cooking up transparent "reasons" against 53 to hide NIMBY, why not make sure that anyone genuinely disadvantaged is fairly compensated, and that everything (like soundproofing walls, landscaping, wide roadway shoulders) are provided to minimize the impact of needed roads on those living nearby? That will create a "win-win" for everyone.

Having said all that I am not terribly optimistic that it will get done, while I and probably 95% of the Round Lake area support 53 we need to focus on doable projects like the 120 bypass. I would gladly lead and champion a realistic effort to build 53. However I am going to continue to push a project that I believe will happen-- the 120 bypass. I will of course advocate for 53 no matter where I am as an elected official, but we should also be pragmatic and focus on the doable.