Red Gate bridge project sees renewed opposition

A mounting group of residents in unincorporated St. Charles and Wayne gathered at a clubhouse Tuesday night in hopes of creating opposition strong enough to transform St. Charles' plan to create a new Fox River crossing into the bridge that goes nowhere.

St. Charles officials view the Red Gate Bridge project as possibly their top priority in 2010. Staff and Mayor Don DeWitte are currently trying to lasso funding for the project to get construction started as soon as possible.

But a group of about 40 people, including Wayne Village President Eileen Phipps, kicked off a grass-roots effort to kill the bridge. Members of the group said their biggest beef with the project is that it may result in an unnecessary introduction of more traffic and a reduction of recreational opportunities in the area. The unnecessary aspect comes in because Kane County is already building a new Fox River crossing in the form of the Stearns Road Bridge. Construction on that bridge will be completed by November 2010. Opponents of the Red Gate Bridge said St. Charles should wait to see the impact of the Stearns Road Bridge on traffic before building another bridge.

St. Charles' main concern is reducing traffic on Route 64, the city's main street. City officials believe that the Stearns Road crossing is simply too far away from Rt. 64 to have any major benefit to traffic through the city.

For its part, Wayne has long been opposed to the plan. Phipps said she's been in frequent contact with state and federal lawmakers to try and undercut potential funding for the bridge. Phipps said she's already received word from Congressman Bill Foster's office that there will be no funding for the project if there is any controversy associated with it.

"They have no money for Red Gate," Phipps said. "And there will be no money for Red Gate."

That said, the project has received funding in the past to complete an environmental study. Kane County also recently gave the Red Gate Bridge project its blessing and endorsement for federal and state funding. And DeWitte said the concerns of the residents and Wayne are nothing new and have yet to derail the slow march toward building the bridge.

DeWitte said he'd be very disappointed if no federal stimulus money was provided by Foster to help with the project. But the fate of the project won't rest in Foster's hands, DeWitte said.

"Red Gate Bridge does not live and die with federal money," DeWitte said. "We're committed to alternate funding of the project if necessary."

The alternate funding routes available are state money or usage of the tax dollars of St. Charles residents.

The group of opponents said that they hope to block those options by winning more people over to their view of waiting for the Stearns Road Bridge. The group is creating a Facebook page called "Red Gate Bridge No" to help organize the opposition and share ideas. There will also be another community meeting on Jan. 12 to discuss what to do next.