Why state, local officials support Longmeadow Parkway
Images that paint the pending Longmeadow Parkway as a place where hoards of blaring trucks whip down an I-90 clone and run down schoolchildren on the way to school are dangerously out of touch with both facts and reality, according to state and local officials promoting the plan.
State Sen. Karen McConnaughay, state Rep. Mike Tryon and Algonquin Village President John Schmitt told the Daily Herald editorial board Thursday that misinformation by detractors of the $135 million project is forcing officials like them to set the record straight. Doing so, they said, is really just a matter of recounting 30 years of intense study showing the new Fox River crossing is both needed and will be successful.
The proposed 5.6-mile road, extending from Huntley Road in Dundee Township to Route 62 in Barrington Hills, will pass through Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills. It will also include a four-lane bridge over the Fox River.
There is no reason to fear Longmeadow, Schmitt said. He compared the parkway to the existing Algonquin Road that stretches from Algonquin to Huntley. Like that road, the parkway will be four lanes with a 40 mph speed limit. There will be trees running down the median. And there will be 25 feet of trees beyond the shoulders on either side. Schmitt said the parkway will have about one-third of Algonquin Road's traffic volume.
“The reality is, after it's built, people are going to say, 'Oh, I can get to Schaumburg quicker. I like that,'” Schmitt said. “It's going to be an enhancement of the area. This is going to be positive for their property values. And it's going to be positive for their communities.”
Schmitt pointed to the million-dollar homes in South Barrington that run right up to Algonquin Road as support for his property value prediction.
The leaders also suggested the number of opponents is about 100 people compared to more than 100,000 supporters.
And that's been proven in political races in various municipalities that have elected and re-elected supporters of the plan.
McConnaughay and Tryon have been the leading champions in pulling in almost $63 million in state funding to help build the parkway.
But when asked about a countywide referendum on Longmeadow, McConnaughay said she doesn't support one.
“That's a very slippery slope, in terms of public policy, to start putting a public vote to the entire county about a particular infrastructure investment that is in a location of the county that many people in the southern end may never go to,” she said. “Once you do that, does that require you to put it to a public vote every time you make an infrastructure investment? People entrust the local officials that they elect to manage the dollars that they are given.”
In the case of Longmeadow, all the dollars for the project will come from the state or federal government and the proceeds of the actual toll bridge that will span the river. The only way local property taxes would come into play is if the toll bridge fails to collect enough money to pay off whatever money the county has to borrow through bonding for the construction. That, too, is an unwarranted fear, the officials said.
“I don't think anybody believes that a project of this nature will be a failure because there is just so much demand for the convenience,” McConnaughay said. “People want to get home. They want to get their kids to the soccer game. They don't want to leave a half an hour earlier to get to work in the morning. I'm very comfortable with the assessment and analysis that this will pay for itself.”