Traffic

· Increased truck traffic

The proposed road will be used by traffic for access to commercial developments around the County airport, as well as a bypass for general traffic around West Chicago. A high percentage of the traffic will consist of trucks. Trucks are inherently much noisier than cars, and they produce far more air pollution.

· Minimal change to Rt. 59 traffic according to DuPage County study

The Eola Road extension is being touted as the answer to the congestion on Rt. 59. However, the County's own LUTSFOX report which studied two options, one with and one without the Eola Road extension, concluded for the West Chicago-Warrenville area, "In the north-south direction, Illinois Route 59 would improve overall, but it would not be significantly better than the conditions with the 2010 'A' network [without the extension]." It is unconscionable that open land be destroyed for what the County itself concluded would not really improve traffic.

· Speeding through Fermilab

The section through Fermilab will be about 3.5 miles long. County and Lab officials have stated that there will be no exits within Fermilab property. Given a long stretch of 4-lane highway with no lights or intersections, speeding is inevitable. One can expect speeds of 65 mph. At those speeds, collisions with animals will be severe and likely injure car occupants. Automobile collisions, and particularly auto/truck collisions will be also be severe on the proposed 'speedway.' The lack of local access means that emergency vehicles will have to fight freeway traffic to assist the injured - or control hazardous spills.

· How will traffic through Fermilab be policed?

Fermilab is Federal property. Will any local police department have jurisdiction on that section of road? If not, who would control traffic speeds and respond to accidents?

· Increased neighborhood traffic from drivers trying to access Eola Road

Although officials have stated that there will be no intersection at Batavia and Eola Roads, maps will show the two roads crossing. Drivers will travel down Batavia Road trying to get onto Eola Road. The increased traffic, which will include trucks, will run through a residential neighborhood. How will semi-trailer trucks turn around on a two-lane road when they get to Fermilab and find they can't go further? There is a grade school just south of Batavia Road. Children living north of Batavia Road must cross it walking to school. How will children be protected from the traffic?

· I80 - I88 - I90 connection will increase traffic without economic benefit to local residents

It is apparent from various news articles that the overall plan for Eola Road is to create a north south 4-lane highway between I-80 and I-90. This major artery will increase traffic far in excess of what public officials are stating. Much of the increased traffic will be through traffic seeking to bypass urban Chicago. Such traffic will not create any economic benefit to western DuPage County. It will only create more congestion, more noise and more air pollution.

· Will this become a 6-lane highway?

An article in the Chicago Tribune TribWest on March 2, 1999, stated that the WiKaDuKe Trail south from Fermilab will be 4-lanes, with a right-of-way expansion to 6 lanes. Since this road from I-80 will connect to I-88 at Eola Road, what will happen to the 4-lane Eola Road extension from I-88 to I-90 if the Trail is widened to 6 lanes?

· Who will benefit from the road?

The proposed route will go from I-88 at Eola road, north through Fermilab along the railroad tracks, then swing west to the industrial park on the east side of the County airport. The road will end at Rt 64. The road was originally proposed to continue north through Pratt's Wayne Woods, but voter opposition resulted in the dropping of that section.

The road would be situated along the extreme western edge of DuPage County. For travel in the north-south direction, there are only a few houses along the path, so there will not be many local residents to benefit. The road will connect I-88 to an industrial park. Thus, it is logical to deduce that north-south volume will consist of considerable industrial truck traffic. It will also provide Kane County residents with a limited-access north-south route along the Fox River. This will bring increased noise and pollution with little benefit to DuPage residents.

The road has been advertised as a way to relieve congestion on Rt. 59. Route 59 is a state road. We have spoken to IDOT about plans to expand Rt. 59. They have told us that they do not consider traffic north of Butterfield to warrant 6 lanes at this time, or in the near future. In a 1997 DuPage County study, two scenarios were analyzed. The first was without the proposed road and leaving Rt. 59 as a 4-lane road. The second added the proposed road through the open space and increased Rt. 59 to 6-lanes, except for West Chicago. The study concluded that from Butterfield Road to Stearns Road, travel along Rt. 59 would not improve significantly with the second option.

In an east-west direction, almost all DuPage residents would have to drive westward past Rt. 59 to use the road, and then drive back eastward past Rt. 59 again to access other locations in DuPage. This is an unlikely scenario. There will be some DuPage residents who will use it to go to Kane County, but most likely the majority of traffic will be Kane County residents traveling to DuPage and Chicago. Again, this seems to provide little gain for DuPage residents in return for the loss of our preserves.

In short, the main benefits appear to be to commercial traffic and drivers from outside DuPage.