Lake County Board might endorse using Route 53 right of way as greenway
The Lake County Board will consider supporting the concept of preserving land once reserved for the extension of Route 53 as a green corridor.
The resolution up for action Tuesday largely is symbolic but would make official the county's endorsement of having the right of way stretching from Lake-Cook Road north to Grayslake and points west preserved as a greenway.
Supporters want the land to be transferred from the Illinois Department of Transportation to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources so it can be protected in perpetuity as a state park, trail or other open space.
On Dec. 16, after more than a year of study involving communities along the route, state legislators, environmental organizations and other entities, the Illinois Route 53 Land Expansion Alterative Use Task Force recommended all the state-owned land designated for the defunct project be transferred to the Department of Natural Resources.
That recommendation also called for a working group to be developed to determine how a state park, trail or other open space can be established and identify funding options for its maintenance. The resolution to be considered by county officials also supports that finding.
Board legislative committee Chair John Wasik of Grayslake, who also was on the Route 53 task force, said it was unclear what the next steps to make the transfer would be.
Other questions would be whether it's a state park or state trail, how it's funded and how connections would be made.
"The biggest benefit to us in Lake County is that it will be a green corridor, meaning it would connect with other parks (and) other facilities," he said. "There are a lot of possibilities."
Extending Route 53 north from Lake-Cook Road was a controversial topic for more than 50 years, with about 1,100 acres valued at $54 million acquired by the state. The $2.7 billion proposed project was dropped in 2019, and there is support to see the land protected.
Sixteen of 19 members on the state task force supported the overall greenway plan. Mundelein disapproved. IDOT and Visit Lake County, the county's tourism and marketing arm, abstained.
Mundelein officials agreed with IDOT that transferring the property to IDNR could hinder needed future road projects.
The next step is how the land transfer can take place.
"As we understand, the governor can authorize the transfer without legislative ratification, and so we hope the administration will entrust the land to IDNR and allocate sufficient funding in their budget to continue the planning process for conversion to a nature trail and state park," said Doug Ower, chair of the Sierra Club Woods and Wetlands Group.
IDNR has said it isn't equipped to take the land until a plan for how the property can be maintained in perpetuity is established, according to state Rep. Dan Didech of Buffalo Grove, a Route 53 task force member.
"It's going to require engaging experts to help the stakeholders work through what an implementable plan would look like," he said. "People need to keep working together. People need to keep talking."