Tollway madness; Enough is enough

I am a 21-year resident of Lake County, Illinois. From the day we moved into our home in Mundelein, we've read and heard of plans to extend Route 53 from Lake-Cook Road north to Route 120. And, at its termination in Grayslake, a bypass would be constructed to relieve traffic congestion in that area. Back then the cost estimate was about $1 billion.

Today, there is a price tag that varies from $2.3 to $3 billion for a reduced throughput roadway which may include new tolls for the northwest suburban communities who've enjoyed a freeway since its completion in 1971.

Allow me to offer a fiscally responsibly alternative. A simple solution to a debate that has gone on for six decades.

Consider these few points:

1. What is the land worth for the proposed extension? I've no doubt developers would line up to build homes and businesses on such serene property - for a premium.

2. If the latest plan calls for a 45 mph four-lane roadway, why not build out Route 83 which runs parallel to the proposed route for 75 percent of its length?

3. Route 53 can also be extended from Lake-Cook Road by connecting it to Route 12. Improving Rand Road would cost a fraction of the cost of a new tollway.

4. And what is the political motivation to keeping the Route 22 bottleneck through

Long Grove? Let's open that up to relieve traffic in Buffalo Grove, Long Grove and Mundelein.

It doesn't take a team of engineers and hundreds of thousands of dollars to clearly see these alternatives would save money for the state and actually put some cash back into the kitty. With such savings many other arteries (especially Route 120) could also be improved to handle future traffic projections.

Jeffrey C. Issel

Mundelein