Farmers Weekly Review

By Nick Reiher

Although the County Board had voted nine times over 30 years to support a 143^rd Street widening project through Homer Township, board members for the past several months have debated the project based on newfound opposition from residents in the final piece.

After lengthy discussion following several hours of in-person and emailed testimony, the County Board on February 15 voted 12-9 to support a resolution for a developed three-lane roadway instead of continuing a five-lane plan.

This will mean the county’s portion of the plan will remain three lanes, while other parts surrounding it from Interstate 355 east into Orland Park will be five lanes.

The vote followed an ironically lengthy discussion about whether to shorten the meeting by entering hundreds of letters into the official record instead of reading them, staff took a couple hours reading each missive, most against the widening of the county’s portion of 143^rd Street in Homer Township from three to five lanes.

This followed about an hour of in-person testimony on the issue, once again dominated by opponents of the plan.

The segment in question, between State Street/Lemont Road and Bell Road, is in the final segment of the widening and reconstruction of 143rd Street Corridor plan begun in 1991. All other segments have been made five lanes, with a median.

The Will County Board has supported the five-lane plan at least nine times since that time, and has spent $6.2 million so far. The county also has the promise of a $7 million grant toward the project, estimated to cost $58 million, with an additional $5 million to $6 million for engineering, said Jeff Ronaldson, Will County Transportation Director.

But after months of opposition from residents in Homer Township, the Public Works and Transportation Committee on February 6 vote to recommend the resolution forgoing that plan and instead build three lanes, with the third being a turn lane.

Opponents say the larger plan would mean more traffic through their area, eliminating what rural areas are left. They added the five-lane plan was devised before 159th Street two miles to the south was fully developed.

Yet, those supporting the five-lane plan say the traffic will coming regardless, now that there is an interchange at Interstate 355 and 143rd Street. Not widening the road as other parts already have been could be a safety issue, they say.

Board Member Natalie Coleman, D-Plainfield, wondered why, if that segment in question has had safety issues near the schools there, no one has provided crossing guards and/or police?

Ronaldson has said the county is in negotiation for right-of-way for the project. Construction can begin after that’s completed. He said acquisition would not re-locate any homes; the same right-of-way would be needed if the County Board were to approve the three-lane plan instead.

Voting for the reduced plan, Board Member Annette Parker, R-Crest Hill, acknowledged there still will be rights-of-way taken and construction in developing the three-lane plan. But in the end, she said she had to listen to the residents.

Parker and Board Member Frankie Pretzel, R-Frankfort, were key to approving the resolution. Pretzel said he went back and forth several times, but he also had to go with the residents’ concerns.

One of the most vocal opponents of the five-lane widening, Steve Balich, R-Homer Glen, who also serves as Homer Township Supervisor, has said he voted for the five-lane plan in the past because former leadership indicated to newer board members that you never turn down a road plan.

He and County Board Chair Judy Ogalla, R-Monee, have said leadership now is pushing more to listen to residents.

One of the comments read into the record wondered if the change in direction by board had to do with helping candidates in the Primary Election on March 19 and General Election in November.

Officials from Orland Park just to the east have been eager for the five-lane plan to proceed, since it would provide a widened road from I-355 through their village. It also was pointed out the larger plan was supported by representatives of surrounding communities interested in a regional traffic plan.

But those opposed to the widening said they don’t care about other communities.

“Homer Glen is not Orland Park’s truck route,” one said at the February 6 committee meeting.

Committee Chair Joe Van Duyne, D-Wilmington, has been somewhat frustrated the county had been behind the five-lane plan for some 30 years. He added there are people in that area who do support the larger widening; some who said at the meeting they believed a wider road would improve safety.

While the full board has approved a $550 million 2050 transportation plan for the county, he added, “the board does not want to support infrastructure.”

County Highway Supervisor Jeff Ronaldson also said the county would lose $7 million in federal funding because that amount would not available for anything less than the 5-lane cross section nor for another project.

Hugh O’Hara from the Will County Governmental League has said the allocation would go back to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which would allocate it to another project in the region. He also said since Will County never has rejected funding before, it might cause CMAP to call into question future requests.

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.