Lake Co. Board chair wants cash for Route 53 extension

With lawmakers in Springfield squabbling over just about everything, it might seem like an odd time for a county official to request a multimillion-dollar handout.

But that's exactly what Lake County Board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt did Wednesday when she held a rare news conference and asked the state to fund the northward extension of Route 53 into Lake County and an overhaul of Route 120.

"If you don't ask, you don't get," said Schmidt, a Lake Villa Republican who's running for state Senate in 2010.

With Illinoisans in key leadership posts in the U.S. Senate, the Cabinet and, of course, the White House, this may be the best time to get money for the long-proposed projects, Schmidt said.

"We have all these great people from Illinois (in office)," she said. "If they can't get it done, no one can."

Lake County voters in April overwhelmingly supported a nonbinding referendum that asked if the state should extend Route 53 north from Lake-Cook Road to Route 120. The question made no mention of possible funding sources, a potential cost, a design or a timeline.

During her news conference Wednesday at the county government center in Waukegan, Schmidt insisted the vote showed county residents want the project - stalled for years - to move forward.

"We have heard the will of the people on Route 53," she said, while not mentioning the many area residents who have been vocally critical of the plan. "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Schmidt also was emphatic about the Route 120 project. After three years of discussions, a planning group consisting of politicians representing the communities along the Route 120 corridor recently announced the road should become a four-lane arterial highway with limited access and a 7-mile bypass segment.

The project needs a $24 million engineering study to proceed, Schmidt said, and she wants the state to pay for it.

"If we do not get Phase 1 engineering money, this project will go on the shelf," she said.

Some estimates have placed the price tag for a Route 53 extension at more than $1 billion. The Route 120 project could cost $500 million, Schmidt said.

Funding for either proposal isn't included in any state road plans. Schmidt appealed directly to Gov. Pat Quinn for funding for the two road plans and pledged to talk to him in person about the efforts.

"I will urge him to make these roads a priority," she said.

A Quinn spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Schmidt is set to challenge incumbent Democrat Michel Bond of Grayslake for the 31st Senate seat in 2010. Both Bond and Schmidt will run unopposed in their respective primaries in February.

Bond called the Route 53 and Route 120 proposals important but said other Lake County road projects need funding, too. He has championed the widening of routes 45 and 83 in the northern part of the county, both of which are under way.

If a Route 53 extension or a new Route 120 is built, Bond supports turning them into tollways to raise the needed cash.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Audio</h2> <ul class="audio"> <li><a href="/audio/suziroads.mp3">Comments from Lake County Board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>