Fermilab's Importance

The original route along the western border of DuPage County, proposed by DuPage County in 1998, would have cut through the middle of Pratt's Wayne Woods Forest Preserve and the eastern side of Fermilab. This route would have a devastating environmental effect on the two areas. Listed below are some of the major impacts.

The highway will directly pave about 120 acres of open space.
Salt spray and runoff will damage soil and plants up to 1000 feet away from the road. That means a total of 1600 acres will be degraded by salt. If the salt gets into streams, the damage will be even more far-reaching.
In Fermilab, the highway would destroy wetlands, woods. a prairie remnant, and at least one lake.
The middle of a forest preserve is not the place for a major highway. Besides habitat splitting, traffic noise will degrade people's enjoyment of the preserve. The traffic will also pose a safety hazard for people and wildlife alike.

The concept of a 4-lane highway through the middle of the largest forest preserve in the county caused a public outcry. Faced with certain defeat at the County Board, Mr. Schillerstrom (DuPage County Board Chairman) withdrew the Pratt's section engineering study from consideration. Mr. Schillerstrom publicly stated that a preserve was not the place for a road.

Unfortunately, the forest preserve is still in peril.

The DuPage County's 'Comprehensive Road Improvement Plan for Impact Fees', unveiled at an October 13, 1999 public hearing, is an obvious threat to Pratt's. The plan shows 4-lanes planned for construction from I-88 to North Avenue (Rt. 64), with an interchange at I-88. The highway would end at the southern edge of the forest preserve, aligned with Powis Road. There is also another 4-lane highway planned that starts at the northern end of the forest preserve and goes north from Powis Road. Essentially, the County is planning to build the same highway as before, minus the section through Pratt's.

If the two sections are built, there would be 4 lanes of traffic dead-ending at each end of Pratt's. When John Loper, the County's Principal Transportation Planner, was asked where the traffic would go in the middle, he said he didn't know.

There are several possible scenarios. First, traffic circles the forest preserve, using either Dunham Road or Rt. 59 to bypass the preserve. This will result in considerable additional traffic on Rt. 64 and Stearns Road, increasing their congestion. Second, the traffic will bottleneck through the middle of Pratt's using Powis Road. Considering that the highway will connect two industrial developments, a high proportion of the traffic will be trucks.

Either scenario bodes ill for the preserve. It is likely that there will be so much additional congestion around and through Pratt's that the County will say that the only way to fix it will be to widen Powis Road or Munger to 4 lanes through the forest preserve. That would destroy the heart of the preserve.