Homer Township — 143rd Street Plan Still on the Books, for Now
By Nick Reiher
A group of Will County Board members was successful in getting legislative help in May to delay the controversial 143rd Street widening project in Homer Township.
During the July 1 meeting of the board’s Public Works and Transportation Committee meeting, several went for a knockout punch.
County Board Member Dan Butler, R-Frankfort, had asked at the June board meeting to have the county’s 2026 – 2031 Transportation Improvement Program referred back to committee to get answers on procedures for some projects.
That allowed Board Member Steve Balich, R-Homer Glen, to once again bring up having the 143rd Street widening project removed from the plan since representatives of the County Executive’s Office, Homer Township and Homer Glen were working on an alternative plan.
County Highway Engineer Jeff Ronaldson went into great detail about how taking the project out of the long-range plan would make no difference because there are outstanding contracts already approved by the board.
He said if the County Board wanted to amend those contracts, the long-range plan could be adjusted accordingly.
In response to questions from committee members and other board members present, Ronaldson said residents and officials from Homer Township and Homer Glen were involved in the discussions of the widening plan for years from the very beginning, and at each new phase.
The three-mile middle portion of the widening of 143rd Street – which is under county jurisdiction – was scheduled to be done last, he said, because the western portion at Interstate 355 and the eastern portion in Orland Park were busier and needed to be done sooner.
The county portion is now two lanes in each direction with a median. The original plan would widen the road to five lanes, including a median and turn lanes, as the rest of 143rd Street has been done.
Most residents who have weighed in oppose the five-lane plan, as do officials from Homer Glen and Homer Township. They would prefer a three-lane plan with a median and turn lanes.
They believe more lanes will mean more truck traffic. Ronaldson said the traffic will increase regardless.
Proponents of the five-lane plan say going to three lanes instead would cause a bottleneck. They also are concerned that any delay would cause them to lose a $7 million federal grant for the eastern portion of their three-mile section.
The county already has spent $6.3 million of local funds on the five-lane widening plan, Ronaldson said.
Opponents said at the meeting they didn’t care about possibly losing the grant; they wanted to listen to the wishes of the residents to keep their area more serene.
Balich at one point said he had heard from a contractor that the plan is to extend 143rd Street from Illinois 59 in Plainfield through Homer Township and to Orland Park.
Ronaldson said there are no such plans. A bridge is being built across the DuPage River to serve Plainfield residents, he said. Extending the road farther east would mean building a new bridge over the DesPlaines River, he added, and there are no plans to do that.
He also said planners were aware of the work to widen and improve 159th Street as they continued to work on the widening of 143rd Street. Several opponents of the widening have said it isn’t necessary because 159th Street can handle the traffic instead.
Ronaldson added that the Eastern portion tied to the $7 million federal grant needs to begin before September 2026 to keep the grant active.
That was the reason the county was seeking legislative approval for quick take, which means a judge decides a fair price for right-of-way property instead of protracted negotiations.
But opponents were able to convince local legislators to hold that request in the waning hours of the spring session at the end of May.
Ronaldson said the western portion of the county’s 143rd Street widening does not have to begin until 2029. He said the County Board could revisit contracts for that part of the plan without jeopardizing the grant.
Balich once again tried to make a motion to pull the whole plan, or at least delay it, which led to a shouting match with Assistant State’s Attorney Dan McGrath, who told him he could not do so.
“The state’s attorney is wrong,” Balich shouted, as committee co-Chair Mark Revis, R-Plainfield, tried to restore order.
In the end, Revis voted with the Democrats on the committee to send the Transportation Improvement Plan – including the 143rd Street widening plan — for consideration by the full County Board at its July 17 meeting.
County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said the offer has been made to Homer Glen and Homer Township to focus only on the Eastern portion to keep the grant alive. She called the move to bring back the Transportation Improvement Plan a “hiccup” in those discussions.
“We are going to start meeting with certain County Board members,” she added, “especially to avoid inaccurate or misinformation.”
Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.