IDOT backs away from Warrenville townhouses
Illinois Department of Transporation officials are backing off plans to take 16 feet of Chuck Moutvic's 27-foot-deep back yard.
"That would have left us with less back yard than the 12-foot lanes they are putting in," Moutvic said.
Plans originally called for Moutvic and five of his neighbors in Lynwood Townhomes to lose the majority of their backyards. The homes back up to Butterfield Road in Warrenville just east of the Route 59 intersection.
However, IDOT Deputy Director of Highways Diane O'Keefe confirmed Friday that the agency is working on new plans that would "greatly minimize or eliminate entirely the need to take from those townhouses."
O'Keefe said the new plans will have no impact on the project's current construction timeline, which is set to begin in 18 months.
The state is planning to widen Butterfield Road from Naperville Road in Wheaton to Route 59 to four lanes with a center median. The project will essentially add nearly 16 lane miles to the 5.3-mile stretch. O'Keefe said it would take two years to complete the project, expected to cost $60 million.
Currently transportation officials are shoring up other land acquisitions ahead of the start of construction. Most of the land being purchased is owned by other taxing bodies, O'Keefe said. However, there are some smaller privately owned pieces, but nothing equivalent to the size of what was wanted from the townhouses.
"It's the 'greatly minimize' part that still worries me," Moutvic said.
State Rep. Mike Fortner met with transportation officials after learning of the plight of Moutvic and his neighbors. He said after speaking with those officials he felt comfortable they would work around Moutvic's property.
"They believe they have found alternatives," Fortner said.
Warrenville officials still have some concerns about the project and eventual finished product, though. City Administrator John Coakley said the city has sent the state agency suggestions.
"We did not redesign their plans," Coakley said. "But we want to scale the road down some, so there's not a highway running through the middle of town."
Butterfield Road dissects the city at Batavia Road. Beside the curbs and gutters proposed for the more urban areas of the Butterfield expansion, Warrenville officials want the speed limit reduced to 35 miles per hour from Batavia Road to Route 59. They also want the lane widths reduced to 11 feet. All of this will act to calm traffic, they said in a letter to O'Keefe earlier this week.
Warrenville is also seeking "countdown signals" at crosswalks and a redesign of sidewalk plans from Route 59 to Patterman Road.
Coakley said the city is cooperating with the state's request for land owned by the city and needed for this project. He believes all the issues can be worked out before construction begins.