More spending to get Longmeadow Parkway going approved
Like much of the process so far, when Kane County Board member Jarett Sanchez rose to express his opposition to spending $37 million in Longmeadow Parkway construction Tuesday, the subsequent vote already seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
"I don't have anything new to add in my opposition to the Longmeadow Parkway, but this is another opportunity to vote 'no,'" Sanchez said.
Sanchez was the only board member to take advantage of that opportunity. The approval means construction work will proceed that would take the parkway up to the banks on both sides of the Fox River.
All that remains is the bridge over the river to connect the two ends of the parkway.
Transportation committee Chairman Drew Frasz said work is underway on the engineering for the bridge. Tuesday's vote also put a cost-benefit study on the toll bridge in motion. That puts the board on track to debate and vote on issuing bonds to build the toll bridge in early spring. Construction on the bridge could begin as early as late summer.
"We're ready to go," Frasz said. "And, knowing contractors, they will be ready and will probably jump on the opportunity to bid for the work."
The time frame moving forward is key for county residents opposed to the parkway. Half the county board is up for election next November. Several candidates have already taken stances against the parkway. Frasz's timetable undercuts those stances. The parkway will be complete, and construction on the toll bridge will already be underway ahead of the election and certainly before any new board members would take their seats in December 2018.
"A lot of people are running for county opposing Longmeadow," Frasz said. "I appreciate their passion, but I can't see next fall's election impacting the bridge at all. It's a fast-moving freight train at this point."
That leaves the legal system as the only means to derail the project. The Stop Longmeadow citizens group filed a lawsuit in hopes of slowing or stopping the project. A spokesperson for the group was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
A GoFundMe page collecting money for the lawsuit indicates members expect a court ruling "in mid-December."