Opponents of a proposed highway extension say they will challenge the makeup of a local planning council Wednesday.
According to Bob Heuer, spokesman for the Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission, the Lincoln-Way Corridor Planning Council, formed to coordinate development and land use policy along the proposed southern extension of Interstate Highway 355, does not meet federal requirements for “meaningful citizen participation.”
The membership is dominated by governmental bodies and the residents who will be affected by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority’s plan to designate a route do not have a voice, Heuer said.
Mapping out a route for a southern extension between New Lenox and Peotone while the question of whether the tollway authority can build a planned extension to the north is premature, he said. “They don’t even have approval for building the first leg (of the tollway) and they’re planning the second.”
Gaylyn Grimm of New Lenox, whose request for a seat on the council was turned down in October, said citizen representation is a key issue.
“We just need to keep on them (the council) because (citizens) are not getting adequate representation. (New Lenox) Township is not represented,” Grimm said.
Lincoln-Way Corridor Planning Council members said the public is represented by officials who serve on the council. The membership includes representatives from local governments.