Batavia wants answers
After the weekend's flooding, Batavia Mayor Jeffery Schielke has a thing or two he wants to discuss with his counterpart to the south in Aurora.
He wants to chat with the Kane County Department of Transportation, too.
Namely, what can be done to ensure the intersection of Kirk and Butterfield roads in Aurora is never again closed, backing southbound traffic all the way up to Wilson Street in Batavia?
"We can't have this every time we have a major rainstorm," Schielke said Tuesday.
Aurora's mayor was unavailable for comment Tuesday, but the city's spokesman responded.
"Aurora was not happy, obviously, with the flooding that happened over the weekend," said Amy Roth, Aurora's public information officer, "and feels both communities need to address it. Both communities have built in that area."
She said Aurora and Batavia officials have a meeting scheduled for next week "to discuss a number of public works-related issues," and that the Kirk-Butterfield flooding is one of them.
Aurora police closed Kirk at Mesa Lane Saturday morning. Drivers hoping to go farther south and west had to make a U-turn on Kirk and head up to Wind Energy Pass, the next street north of Mesa.
Once on Wind Energy, drivers unfamiliar with the Batavia neighborhood ran into some problems. Those who tried to turn south on Wagner Road discovered a gate blocking access from Wagner to Mesa Lane in the Kirkland Farms subdivision in Aurora. Residents of that subdivision were none too pleased to have traffic backing up and turning around in front of their houses. One erected a homemade barricade out of a 2-by-4 and lawn chairs.
Even Schielke, out investigating the situation, was told by a resident to keep out.
"They (Kirkland Farm residents) can't get to Aurora from Aurora," Schielke said. The gate was installed to keep traffic from the recently opened Wal-Mart store across Mesa from cutting through the residential neighborhood instead of using Kirk.
During the height of Saturday's flooding, opening the gate could have alleviated some of the traffic that had to detour through neighborhoods in southeast Batavia, Schielke contends.
Once past Wagner on Wind Energy, some drivers turned south at the first major street they found, Raddant Road. The problem there is no traffic light at Butterfield and Raddant; it's just a two-way stop. Traffic backed up on Raddant behind drivers waiting to make turns, Schielke said.
Batavia police tried to direct people to keep going farther west on Wind Energy, to Hart Road, which has a traffic light at Butterfield.
Residents of those streets called the mayor to complain about the extra traffic.
"It was just a very discombobulating situation Saturday," Schielke said.
The bigger problem he thinks is what caused the situation in the first place: the flooding of the intersection of Kirk and Butterfield. He is concerned that as Aurora has stepped up commercial development there, including the Wal-Mart, there may not be adequate stormwater drainage for the traditionally low-lying area.
Kane County has spent most of the last year widening the intersection. A Wal-Mart and a Sonic drive-through are on the northwest corner, with several other outlying buildings; a gas station is on the southwest corner; several strip malls and a gas station/McDonald's are on the southeast corner; and a Dominick's is planned for the northeast corner.
Schielke said he will meet with Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner once the mayor has recuperated from his recent colon cancer treatment.
"We had events unfolding here that were totally outside the city of Batavia" that affected the city, Schielke told the Batavia city council Monday night. "Needless to say, the southbound traffic had nowhere to go, and had to go into Batavia. It was not easily brought under control. (Batavia) police had to make some order out of the mayhem. You had some air of panic involved."
"I have quite a list of things I saw in his town Saturday that I want to talk about with Tom," Schielke said.
Batavia Alderman Linnea Miller said the Wagner Road gate situation "sticks in my craw."
"That is one of those situations where all they have done is shove it all over to Batavia," Miller said.
"It demands that we have some communication with the city of Aurora," Schielke said.
Answers: Mayor says situation was 'discombobulating'