Longmeadow bridge makes no sense

The Kane County Board Transportation Committee recently approved a resolution to proceed with construction of the 5.6-mile Longmeadow Parkway toll bridge. We call this progress.

Anybody who thinks this project is going to help traffic in Kane County is seriously, seriously deluded. The traffic studies don't support it. In fact, we'll likely see more traffic and development within five years of it opening. You think we've got flooding problems now? Just wait.

Worse yet, the environmental "studies" are a joke. This is going to have a huge environmental impact on one of the last pristine stretches of the Fox River. We'll have more noise, air and water pollution, not to mention the burden of maintaining this roadway with no benefits.

We need a local bridge to serve local traffic, not a regional highway. Do the research - infrastructure of this magnitude never alleviates traffic, it just brings more in its wake.

Anyone who supports this project has their head in the sand ... or somewhere else lacking daylight. And for the record, it wasn't residents of the communities who gave their nod to this ridiculous proposal, it was village politicians. There's a vast difference.

Nonbinding referendums in the communities most impacted gave a resounding no vote. What ever happened to that data? It's no doubt been buried along with common sense.

Paula Lauer

East Dundee