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Governor should reject special interests on Rt. 53

I have lived in the path of the Route 53 corridor in Mundelein for the past 24 years. My husband and I love our home and the Lake County community. We have raised our family here and are now enjoying having our grandsons experience all that Lake County has to offer.

Route 53 has been hanging over our heads for all these years, and it is time for Gov. Rauner to make a decision to, once and for all, decommission the land that has been targeted for this unrealistic, unfunded and unwanted toll road.

We need to be realistic and improve the existing roads; build an underpass at routes 83 and 120, widen existing East/West roads, and place turn lanes on Route 45 and other roads. This would greatly improve the congestion and be affordable.

The excessive tolls proposed for extending Route 53 would pay for less than 20 percent of this project. The rest of the money would be supplied by increased taxes for Lake County residents via increased tolls on I-94, the return of the Deerfield toll plaza, and an additional tax on gas purchased in Lake County. We already pay the highest taxes in Illinois. How much more can anyone expect us to pay?

In addition to the cost of such a project, environmental concerns loom for our children, grandchildren and the wildlife that is a Lake County treasure.

I hope our governor rejects special interest groups who stand to make millions if this ridiculous Environmental Impact Study is ever allowed to happen. We have been discussing Route 53 for 50 years. If it was such a good idea, it would have been built by now.

Fran Free

Mundelein

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