Does support of Route 53 extension mean action? Not quite

Now that Lake County voters have voiced overwhelming support for a long-planned extension of Route 53, you might expect the Lake County Board and administration would put the decades-old proposal at the top of their to-do list.

Not quite.

County officials aren't planning to lobby significantly for the project, raise money for it or study it.

Instead, they're simply planning to mail copies of an still-to-be written - or adopted - resolution about the election results to state lawmakers and transportation officials.

"This is a state project," County Administrator Barry Burton said. "The state would have to take the lead on this. There's nothing the county can do."

Nearly 76 percent of voters on Tuesday said "yes" to a nonbinding referendum that asked if the state should extend Route 53 north from Lake-Cook Road to Route 120, unofficial results showed.

The next day, the county board's public works and transportation committee asked Burton's staff to draft a resolution describing the referendum results and the Route 53 history.

If the full board adopts the resolution at its next meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. April 14 in Waukegan, the document will be sent to lawmakers, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority officials and the Illinois Department of Transportation, Burton said.

And that will be the extent of the county's work for the project, Burton said.

Proponents of the highway project, however, hope the groundswell of support for the long-dormant highway plan, which has been on the books since the 1950s, will continue.

"This is an overwhelming mandate by the people of Lake County, and they would like to see some action taken," said Tim Penno, executive vice president of Build53Yes.org, a coalition of businesses, public officials and contractors who promoted the referendum and want to see the highway built.

Transportation officials have said the project wasn't moving forward because consensus in the county didn't exist, Penno said. He hopes Tuesday's election results will provide the impetus for action.

Although some area lawmakers have supported the Route 53 plan while others have opposed it or been silent, Penno hopes more will pick up the cause in Springfield.

The planned resolution is a sensible next step for the county board, Penno said. He doubts county officials will completely drop interest in the effort.

"They've documented the need and they've documented the desire, and they're telling the state, 'All right. Let's go. We're ready.'"