The Will County Division of Transportation is proposing to reduce the scope of the controversial 143rd Street widening project through Homer Glen, but Homer Glen and Homer Township officials say they are against the updated plan.
A proposal to proceed with condemnation cases for a modified eastern segment of the 143rd Street widening will go to the full County Board on Sept. 18 after the county’s Public Works and Transportation Committee advanced the resolution by a 4-3 vote along party lines on Tuesday. Four Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the resolution with three Republican committee members opposed.
Transportation Director Jeff Ronaldson said he reached a compromise to address local concerns after discussions with village officials, County Board members and the county executive office.
The original plan was to widen 143rd Street from two to five lanes from State Street/Lemont Road to Bell Road. The county began engineering studies in 2009 and has spent about $6.2 million so far. A $7 million federal grant earmarked for the construction must be obligated by 2026.
Residents and elected officials in Homer Glen and Homer Township have been protesting the widening
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for more than 1 1/2 years, saying it will destroy the town’s rural feel, take a portion of residents’ property, tear down trees and disrupt wildlife while adding noise and congestion.Ronaldson said the project is needed to improve safety. Traffic counts warrant a five-lane road, he said.
As part of the proposed modifications, the eastern segment of 143rd Street would proceed with five lanes. It would tie into the Bell Road intersection improvements on the eastern end and end just west of the Parker Road intersection with a transition to the existing two-lane roadway, Ronaldson said.
The county, which has already acquired five parcels of land in this segment, would still have to acquire 31 parcels to proceed with the widening. The County Board will consider this month a resolution to proceed with condemnation cases from about Parker Road to Golden Oak Drive.
The federal grant the county has already received would be used to help fund this segment of construction, while the western section toward State Street/Lemont Road would be delayed indefinitely until the County Board decides to fund it, Ronaldson said.
If approved, negotiations for right-of-way acquisition for the western segment of the road expansion would stop and all offers would be rescinded, Ronaldson said. If the County Board elects to move forward widening the western portion of 143rd Street in the future, negotiations and appraisals would have to start again, he said.
To improve safety, the transportation division has lengthened no passing zones and added flashing yellow beacons to no passing zones signs, Ronaldson said.
“The western segment does not have federal dollars in it. That’s why we can leave it alone if you choose to do so,” Ronaldson said. “I am not going to propose saying that’s a good idea from a traffic standpoint with 18,000 vehicles a day on there. (It’s) not a safe option, … but if the County Board wants to wait, you have the opportunity to do that.”
Federal money must be used to build five lanes because the traffic meets the criteria for a five-lane system, Ronaldson said.
The eastern segment is closer to Bell Road and commercial development, he said.
County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant acknowledged that Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike does not want the project to proceed. But Bertino-Tarrant said she is working to ensure the county doesn’t waste taxpayer money already spent while addressing some of the concerns.
Neitzke-Troike said she wants the County Board to vote to reallocate the federal funds to another widening project. Reallocating funds would give village and county officials more time to speak to one another, she said.
“Why wouldn’t you want to be heroes in a different community and give them the funding and expansion they need and stop being the villain on 143rd Street in Homer Glen,” Neitzke-Troike said. “You can help save these residents’ homes, their land, their home values and give it to another town that needs it. That is my compromise.”
Residents of Homer Glen have sent the county hundreds of emails and letters against the project, she said. Expanding the eastern section of 143rd Street amounts to kicking the can down the road, and she said she is concerned the western expansion will follow.
Homer Glen has been voted one of the safest cities in Illinois, and a five-lane road would increase crime, Neitzke-Troike said.
Homer Township Supervisor Sue Steilen said she polled her board, which includes residents of Homer Glen, Homer Township and Lockport, and they are not in favor of the compromise. She said Homer Glen incorporated in 2001 because it wanted to preserve its rural character. Changing 143rd Street to a five-lane road decimates that character, she said.
“Homer Glen does not want to grow. We want to be sustainable, but we don’t want the extra traffic,” Steilen said. “Government never serves its constituents by going against the will of the people, and that’s what you are doing by compromising and building this five-lane road.”
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.