Transforming Route 53 Corridor into a Nature Trail Would be a Landmark achievement for Lake County

Now that studies for the proposed Route 53 extension have come to a halt, it's time to accelerate work on constructive strategies that will relieve Lake County's traffic congestion without compromising the natural landscape that defines the character of our communities.

First and foremost, we must embark on the common-sense and cost-effective improvements to our local roads and rail infrastructure - projects like lane widenings on major arterials and grade-separations where motorists are blockaded by freight trains - that remained at a standstill while the officials stubbornly tried to peddle the proposed tollway as a panacea to traffic woes.

At the same time, Lake County residents now have a seminal opportunity to salvage something positive and rewarding from the long, taxing debate over the Route 53 proposal by transforming the land where the tollway would have been built into a public nature trail and preserve. Such a green corridor with parks, trails, bike lanes, equestrian trails, wetland features, ponds, woodlands, and prairies could become a recreational mecca and one of Illinois' premiere showcases for environmental stewardship.

There are simply few undeveloped sites left in Lake County with the aesthetic beauty and natural abundance of the Route 53 corridor. The more than 1,000 acres that make up the corridor wind through the heart of central Lake County like an emerald ribbon. They include the Indian Creek wetland complex - which spans my community and has been recognized by the state as a crucial resource for rare natural habitat - majestic heron rookeries, and the kind of iconic meadows and marshes synonymous with the Prairie State.

A greenway linking these resources could include a pedestrian and biking trail, among other possible amenities, affording area residents a chance to find sanctuary amid some of the region's most scenic vistas. It could also yield residual benefits to the local economy, attracting outdoor enthusiasts who would be likely to visit a natural green corridor destination.

And unlike the trail of polarization, frustration, and, ultimately, stagnation, that the Route 53 project left behind during the six decades that it repeatedly resurfaced, this concept for a public greenway would benefit Lake County residents universally.

Moreover, since taxpayers bankrolled the purchase of the land that makes up the corridor - it was bought incrementally by IDOT for a cumulative price tag exceeding $54 million - public use of the property as a recreational destination would make good on that investment and support state initiatives for health, wellness, and our commitment to protecting our valuable natural resources.

Making this vision for a once-in-a-generation greenway a tangible reality would require inclusive discussion, consensus, and planning among a variety of state and Lake County agencies, municipalities, and community residents, and conservation advocates.

It can't be foisted on anyone, as the proposed Route 53 extension itself was. But through a concerted planning process, it seems more than possible that stakeholders could coalesce around an approach to parlay this rare and delicate remnant of our natural heritage into one of the county's iconic environmental and recreational resources.

As one of the communities that would have been permanently fragmented by the proposed Route 53 Extension, the village of Hawthorn Woods is hoping to embark on this discussion with like-minded stakeholders. We are ready to get to work on delivering these benefits for the county, the region and the state of Illinois.

Many interests and many factors must be balanced in formulating a vision for how this land could be preserved as a public asset - and that will take time, of course.

But we are grateful that it took the Illinois Tollway's new executive director, José Alvarez, only a matter of months to ascertain that the Route 53 Extension is as it's always been a financial and political dead end.

The corridor where it would have been built, however, can be a vehicle for Lake County residents to cherish the natural areas that imbue our communities with our landmark identity.

Joseph Mancino is Mayor of the Village of Hawthorn Woods.