High Cost

The County's current "favorite" route (see Area Map tab [155 k]) runs north from I-88 at Eola Road, through Fermilab, and then up Kress and Powis Roads to the south end of Pratt's Wayne Woods Forest Preserve. Another section continues from the north end of the Preserve into Cook County to join with US 20, and eventually I-90. The total cost for these sections totals $50 million, according to the County's Road Building Plan.

What would taxpayers get for their money? Not much. The County's own studies conclude that the highway would not significantly relieve traffic. Traffic around the Pratt's would probably be worse, as the 4 lanes of traffic try to go through or around the Preserve to get to the other section. The highway would place the future of Fermilab, and its scientific and economic contribution to the region, in peril.

At a 1999 Transportation Committee meeting, an alternate route for the Eola Road extension was discussed. The new route would run through the Summerlakes, Fox Hollow, and Maple Hill subdivisions in Warrenville. (Purple line in map.) It was estimated that 30-40 homes would be destroyed, and the route would cost an additional $50 million. The highway would have a devastating effect on the property values of the remaining homes in the neighborhoods. The resultant drop in tax base would impact all of Warrenville. In addition, Fermilab officials have said that this route would have as bad an impact on their operations as the route through their property.

The highway would have to cross railroad tracks twice, and would be ½ mile from Route 59. Since Fermilab owns property to Route 38, the highway would have to dump traffic onto Route 38 to get to Kress Road. Eight lanes of traffic merging onto 4 lanes would create the "West Chicago Strangler". Route 38 could be widened, but at additional expense. An alternative would be to build another highway north of and parallel to Route 38, but that would destroy even more homes and businesses in West Chicago.

If the route through the Warrenville subdivisions is chosen, the price tag will climb to $100 million, neighborhoods will be destroyed, and a city's future will be harmed. For all that, DuPage County residents would still not get a new continuous north-south route unless the highways are connected through Pratt's Wayne Woods Forest Preserve. The Warrenville route was subsequently dropped in the face of a strong public outcry.

To put these costs into perspective, in the County's road building plan, the cost to widen Route 59 all the way from the north county line to the south county line is estimated to be $114 million.

The County's current road building plan is $120 million in the red. Where will the additional money come from? The County has several sources from which to draw. The County collects impact fees from developers when they get new projects approved, issues bonds, and collects various taxes from taxpayers.

There are a number of restrictions and limitations on impact fees. First, impact fees can only be collected to pay for road improvements for the additional traffic that a project will create. The fees cannot be used for road improvements related to existing traffic problems. Second, impact fees have to be used in the fee district in which they were collected. The Eola Road extension and the Kress/Powis Road widening are located in district 6. The total cost for those two sections is $35 million. Thus in order for impact fees to contribute significantly toward the cost of the new highway, there would either have to be a huge amount of development in fee district 6, or the fee rate would have to be increased greatly. Either scenario is unlikely. In fact, the County's Road Building Plan estimates that impact fees will only bring in $20 million for the entire County. It should be remembered that impact fees are passed along to home buyers and businesses in the form of higher prices for houses and commercial buildings.

Issuing bonds requires that they are paid back, with interest. The taxpayers are the ones who must pay back the bonds, in the form of an increased property tax rate. The County has said they can finance their road building plan without increasing taxes. While technically true, in reality the amount of taxes that we will pay will increase. We won't get something for nothing.

County officials say that they won't have to raise taxes because they can refinance existing bonds at lower rates. The savings will cover the payments on the road bonds. However, this is really a tax increase. Refinancing old bonds is not predicated on issuing the road building bonds. The savings from the refinancing could be passed along to taxpayers instead.