Towns to the north need Rt. 53 extension

There have been many letters printed from residents of a few specific smaller communities in southern Lake County that oppose the Route 53 Extension. Please recognize that these outspoken few are not the individuals that desperately need the highway extension.

The residents that live further north and west in Lake County have no options for highway travel. We must go east to I-94, however, if our destination is within the Western suburbs (such as Schaumburg or Naperville), this highway often will take us too far east and many miles out of our way.

The only options to go south in the western section of Lake County are Routes 45, 83, and 12. These are two-lane roads (some sections being four lanes, yet that does nothing to reduce traffic volume) with numerous stoplights, speed limit changes through residential areas, and extremely heavy traffic in rush hour.

My community is approximately 18 miles north of Long Grove; however, it usually takes me over an hour to drive that distance in the evening rush hour along Route 45, even with the road widening to four lanes that was completed in 2009 between Mundelein and Grayslake.

I can understand the sentiment of "Not in My Backyard" that the vocal opposition to the Route 53 extension is taking; however, this highway will benefit so many more people who live further north than they do, yet still need to commute into Cook or Dupage counties for work, let alone for leisure travel to those areas as well.

Please remember that Lake County is not just the residents of Long Grove and Hawthorn Woods. We live in Antioch, Fox Lake, Grayslake, Lake Villa, Lindenhurst and many more towns that lie miles north of yours that truly need a highway that connects our area of the county to the Chicago highway and Illinois Tollway system.

Steve Duvall

Lindenhurst