Talks begin on Longmeadow toll plan

Members of the Longmeadow Parkway Toll Bridge Taskforce convened for the first time Thursday night, an early step in determining how much motorists will have to pay to use the future Fox River crossing.

Created this summer by the Kane County Board, the consortium of county board and municipal leaders is charged with figuring out how to repay loans needed to complete the $88 million project.

In 2005, the federal transportation package earmarked $4 million for the project.

The group, which includes members from Algonquin, Carpentersville, East and West Dundee, as well as both Kane and McHenry counties, plans to present a final study to the Kane County transportation committee at its May 2008 meeting.

"We have tried to find another funding mechanism and the concept of a toll is the last resort," panel Chairman Jan Carlson told audience members who asked if a toll bridge was necessary. "We believe this is the last resort."

The proposed 5.6-mile roadway will connect Huntley Road in Algonquin to Route 62 in Carpentersville, with intersections at Randall and Sleepy Hollow roads, as well as at routes 25 and 31.

Almost a dozen local municipalities, and McHenry County, have indicated support for the toll bridge through resolutions.

That support, though, is contingent on parameters such as removing the toll once the bonds are repaid, incorporating the IPASS system, and providing the best effort to open the facility in the next four to five years.

Members Thursday directed staff to develop a cost estimate for preliminary traffic projection studies of the area.

The board also approved developing cost estimates to determine if the toll bridge will have the capability to repay the loans based on traffic projections.

"Until we look at the revised projections, and until we look at the number of trips along the corridor, we are not able to determine if the projections are close enough," said Tom Rickert, the county transportation department's deputy director.

While members and their respective communities support the bridge, some residents said a local crossing would best serve the communities, not another regional crossing.

"This is basically in my back yard, but I won't have access to it," said Algonquin resident Dave Reece. "It is not going to solve our problems."

The panel will next meet Nov. 15.