Foes line up against road extension

The way she sees it, Mary Pakos believes a proposed quarter-mile road extension of Ardmore Avenue would destroy her neighborhood.

She's worried about unwanted traffic and the added risk it brings, with neighborhood kids crossing the street to play in a nearby park just about every day.

"We hope we're able to convince the (Oakbrook Terrace) City Council to reverse their decision," she said.

On Tuesday, Pakos gave city officials a petition signed by more than 1,000 people who shared her views.

Residents from the Brandywine townhouse subdivision have spent the past several months voicing their displeasure with the plan to extend Ardmore Avenue from 16th Street to Butterfield Road. Right now, Ardmore dead-ends at 16th near a largely vacant parcel of land.

More than $940,000 of the $1.7 million project would be paid for with grant money secured by the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, a coalition of county elected officials and municipal employees.

Mayor Thomas Mazaika has said the road extension is needed to improve traffic in and around Oakbrook Terrace. And to that end, city leaders already started budgeting for the road project in anticipation of construction, which could begin in roughly two years.

"It's been approved in principle," Mazaika said. "In my mind, we've already agreed to do this. We got the grant and did all the paperwork."

Among those holding out hope of convincing the city council to change its mind is the Oakbrook Terrace Park District.

Laura Barron, the park district's director of parks and recreation, echoed the safety concerns of neighbors in opposing the road project.

Barron said the extension would destroy a serene park district-owned landscape near the intersection of Ardmore Avenue and 16th Street.

"By having the road cut across the bike path, this project would cause all of that to go away," she said.

More than 250 people attended a public hearing held last month at the park district's Heritage Center. While members of the city's contracted engineering firm were available to answer questions, no city officials attended the hearing.

It's unclear how effective the efforts to oppose the road project will be. The neighborhood is located in an unincorporated area outside of the municipal boundary of Oakbrook Terrace. Mazaika has said that city officials plan to proceed with the project despite the opposition.