Letter: Bears proposal not suitable to community

Just say no to the Bears. The massive stadium proposed by the Chicago Bears does not belong in a residential community. There are serious concerns about ingress and egress from this site; specifically involving I-53 at Euclid Avenue and at Northwest Highway. The stadium would be better suited in an industrial or manufacturing district along the I-90 or I-294 tollway which can provide better access without affecting residential neighborhoods.

I applaud the village of Palatine officials for cautiously reviewing the Bears' stadium proposal and scrutinizing all potential impacts to our community, including infrastructure and financial costs. The increased traffic could clog our roads, delay emergency services and bring our community to complete gridlock.

Our local roads, including Northwest Highway, Palatine Road and Euclid Avenue may need to be widened, along with enlarging the storm sewer systems, to handle the additional traffic; but there is little to no parkway space available and this widening could severely affect adjacent homes and businesses.

The increased traffic generated by this stadium will have detrimental effects on our neighborhoods and our quality of life due to increased air pollution, increased number of motor vehicle crashes, bicyclist and pedestrian injuries, traffic delays, more litter, increased noise and increased crime. A modest size concert or theater venue would be more appropriate for this site and complement the remaining mixed use development as proposed. The Bears' stadium simply does not fit into our community.

Rodney Bettenhausen

Palatine