Longmeadow Parkway Task Force ready for bridge questions

A task force established to study the feasibility of a regional toll bridge across the Fox River is asking for resident input at a public hearing Thursday.

The Longmeadow Parkway Task Force, a consortium of village officials from 11 northern Fox Valley communities, will hold a public forum from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Randall Oaks Golf Club, 4101 Binnie Road, West Dundee.

The task force will update residents on the status of the estimated $117 million project, present the need and purpose of the improvement and illustrate what the structure could look like, said Steve Coffinbargar, chief of planning and programming for the Kane County Division of Transportation.

"Later this year we will present to the Kane County Board what the task force found," Coffinbargar said. "That will include the public comments."

The county board assembled the task force more than a year ago to investigate the viability of building a bridge using toll collection.

The Longmeadow Parkway Toll Bridge would introduce a 5.6-mile, four-lane highway connecting Huntley Road in Carpentersville and Route 62 on the east side of Algonquin, easing the traffic burden off the Jane Addams Tollway, Route 72 and Route 62.

The project received $4 million in the 2005 federal transportation bill for land acquisition and engineering, leaving the county to find other funding sources for construction.

Earlier this year, a consultant from Chicago-based WilburSmith Associates recommended a $1.50 toll during peak hours and $1 at off-peak hours. The proposal calls for the tolls to end once the structure was paid for, according to resolutions signed by 10 municipalities and McHenry County.

Carpentersville Village President Bill Sarto said the public hearing is the final step before the project moves to the approval stage with the county.

"After this, the county could give a final go-ahead to purchase the remaining property and move forward toward the ultimate goal of building the bridge," said Sarto, an opponent of the tollway structure.

If the Longmeadow Parkway corridor is approved, officials estimate, the bridge could open to traffic within five years.