Open houses set for Route 53 land use strategies
The first of consecutive open house meetings regarding the impact of extending Route 53 on the Lake County landscape is scheduled for Wednesday in Libertyville.
Public input is sought on the draft plan of land use strategy for the corridor extending two miles from the centerline, which involves 76,000 acres, or about a quarter of the land in Lake County. The corridor area touches 20 communities and encompasses an array of environmental features.
The first public session will be 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Libertyville Civic Center, 135 W. Church St. The second is the same time Thursday at Kemper Lakes Golf Club, 24000 N. Old McHenry Road in Kildeer.
Developing a strategy of how best to balance economic development while protecting the environment and preserving the integrity of communities along the way has been the ongoing mission of a land use committee comprised of representatives of various communities and other interests and guided by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. The 170-page draft plan is available at www.lakecorridorplan.org/.
Comments can be submitted through Oct. 23 in person at the open houses, on the project website, by email at infor@cmap.ilinois.gov or regular mail to CMAP, 233 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 800, Chicago, 60606, attention Il 53/120 Corridor.
"We've worked really hard to make sure there are opportunities for public input," said Aaron Lawlor, Lake County Board chairman and co-chair of the land use committee that has been working to compile a draft plan since March 2014. "These sessions will be focusing on the land use strategy for the corridor."
The land use committee has been working separately but in tandem with a finance committee. That group this past March approved a package of funding recommendations, including a 4-cent per gallon gas tax, toll hikes and other measures, to the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority for the $2.35 billion to $2.65 billion proposal. The road is envisioned as a four-lane, limited access boulevard-style tollway.
A land use strategy is intended to protect sensitive lands while encouraging connected systems of open space and facilitating walking, biking and other modes of transportation. At the same time, it envisions a shared vision for development, which is an expected sticking point. Forecasts project millions of square feet of new retail and industrial uses and as many as 5,150 new homes.
The land use committee next month is expected to recommend the strategy to the tollway board. The next year will be spent presenting the strategy to individual local governments and formulating an intergovernmental agreement.
Opponents to the Route 53/120 proposal have argued it is too expensive and won't solve traffic problems. Others have questioned the environmental impacts, although a specific route and the location of interchanges and other features have not been determined.
Those details will emerge if the tollway board decides to advance the project by authorizing an environmental-impact statement.