Not everyone wants Red Gate Bridge

St. Charles residents and their unincorporated neighbors with concerns about the Red Gate Bridge showed they aren't done fighting the project Monday night.

Pockets of resistance appear to be heavy in the vicinity of the bridge itself. Several residents from the Rivers Edge Subdivision told city council members they aren't necessarily against the bridge. However, they'd like to see better curbs, lighting and speed limit considerations in designing the flow of traffic coming and going from the bridge and through their residential neighborhood. Residents cited several accidents in recent years involving high speeds and serious injuries from traffic that uses Red Gate Road to cut through the area.

Mayor Don DeWitte and city staff members fended off several questions involving funding for the $18 million to $22 million project and cost versus benefit with statements reflecting the city's view that the project is already a done deal.

Questions about design and money were referred to the city's website. Unincorporated residents who flat out don't want the bridge were encouraged to voice their views to the Kane County Board.

Concerns about increased traffic volume in residential areas were deemed “not significant enough” to derail the project as DeWitte addressed comments one at a time. The city's ability to improve Red Gate Road is limited as only part of it is controlled by the city. The rest of the road is controlled by the township.

One of the biggest questions about the bridge involves the idea that the village of Wayne could close down Army Trail Road in hopes of killing the project. DeWitte said he's calling Wayne Village President Eileen Phipps' bluff.

“She may want to talk to the folks at IDOT about that since it does adjoin a state highway,” DeWitte said. He said the city is so confident nothing will happen with Army Trail Road that there is no contingency plan to address that possibility in place.

Despite the concerns, the city council unanimously approved a $1.73 million contract for additional engineering that will get the project ready for construction contracts. The city expects to begin construction on the project in 2011. The bridge will take about two years to build.

Once complete, the bridge is expected to reduce traffic through downtown St. Charles by 10 percent. City staff members said that means the bridge may see 4,000 to 5,000 cars a day. Trucks will not be permitted to use the bridge.