Won't stand for Longmeadow fiasco

Won't stand for Longmeadow fiasco

As a member of Taxpayers Against Longmeadow Tollway, I would like to state the obvious - residents are overloaded with taxes on every level and we simply can't take Kane County putting us on the hook for the Longmeadow Toll Bridge that will cost well over $100 million.

The project has obvious negative impacts on Carpentersville and the surrounding communities. Residents do not want a toll road in their yards, the noise will be unbearable and their property values will plummet.

Spring Hill Mall is our cash cow. Why would anyone want to divert traffic from this business area to go straight to Algonquin? According to the Kane County Longmeadow promotional brochure, Longmeadow will serve 700 plus acres of Algonquin's corporate campus. Longmeadow isn't meant to benefit Carpentersville so why should we become the doormat to Algonquin and McHenry County?

Proponents of the toll bridge, like Kane County Board members Becky Gillam and Maggie Auger have said that "everybody" wants the toll bridge. We pointed out that this is not the case. Then they said, "It's just a small group of people who oppose Longmeadow." We proved this is not the case at the annual Dundee Township meeting when 232 residents voted to place a Longmeadow referendum question on the ballot.

I say our voices matter and I believe voters agree. Carpentersville Village President Ed Ritter is promoting Longmeadow Toll Bridge in spite of the damage to the village. He needs to understand that his support of this boondoggle will cost him the next election. The voters simply will not stand for a $40 million forest preserve being bisected by a toll road, the damage to residents who live along the corridor, and the enormous cost of this destructive project.

Billita Jacobsen

Carpentersville