Will County transportation officials are seeking input on the ongoing Eastern Will County Freight Mobility Corridor study, while some residents are starting a petition drive in protest of the county’s plan to create a dedicated east-west truck route between Interstate 57 and Illinois 394.
About 140 residents attended a recent meeting at Monee Elementary School to hear information and provide feedback on the plan.
Residents have through July 24 to submit written comments that will be entered into the official public record. A survey about the project is online at www.eastwillmobility.com.
Will County transportation officials are studying how best to organize truck traffic in response to local leaders, who said truckers now drive through their towns, sometimes on roads not meant for semis, said Christina Kupkowski, a project manager with the Will County Division of Transportation.
But the study is concerning to several residents worried a truck route will be built near their neighborhoods.
“How are they going to change our community?” said Monee resident Jacqueline Rosinski. “The community needs to be heard.”
Rosinski said she understands the logic of trying to get trucks from I-57 to IL-394, but said there are concerns.
Nearby residents said the project would add more trucks, increase noise and pollution, harm farmland, destroy wildlife habitats and create greater traffic hazards for residents.
“We will lose our privacy,” said Monee resident Chad Hartman, who is organizing a petition drive against the east-west truck route after learning one of the alternatives under consideration goes near his Country Meadows subdivision.
Hartman said it would ruin the view from his picturesque yard, and he fears reduced property values and increased noise.
Hartman said he is concerned that county officials are catering to truck drivers without regard to residents’ well-being. He said if they make it easier for trucks to travel through town, it will invite developers to build more warehouses and industrial parks, which would then lead to even more trucks.
Hartman said he is also concerned about an increase in crime because there would be easier access to I-57, and he wondered how Monee Elementary School or the Golf Vista Estates senior living community would be affected if the truck route were located near them.
“Everybody likes Monee because it’s a quiet, quaint little town,” Hartman said.
Board opposition
County Board member Judy Ogalla, a Monee Republican, said she didn’t like any of the proposed alternatives, which affect neighborhoods, schools and a potential location for a new Monee police station.
“This is not community friendly at all,” Ogalla said.
County Board member Dan Butler, a Frankfort Republican, said a handful of residents and local leaders have contacted him about the project. Residents, who appreciate the farmland and rural living, told him they want less truck traffic, not more.
If truck routes are created, more warehouses and industrial parks could be built on the farmland, Butler said.
“Are we doing this for the people, or are we doing it for the businesses,” he said. “People live in Will County because it’s more rural, especially out this way. They like the country, natural environment.”
He said a broader issue of how development should look, especially on farmland, should be discussed. Butler also questioned the maintenance costs for upkeep.
“Infrastructure costs never go away,” he said.
Truck traffic increases
There has been a significant growth in truck traffic, but there is a lack of dedicated east-west connections between I-57 and IL-394, Kupkowski said. The study is being done to evaluate alternatives to improve freight mobility.
Some of the area’s weight-restricted roads are not built for truck traffic, and those weight restrictions may not be conveyed on GPS devices. As a result, truckers drive on roads they shouldn’t and violate those roads’ weight limits, Kupkowski said.
“A designated truck route tells truckers, ‘This is where we want you to be,’” she said.
No decisions have been made at this point, Kupkowski said.
The study, which started in 2020 with a series of meetings and surveys, includes about 20 square miles and the municipalities of Crete, Monee, University Park and parts of Frankfort, Park Forest, Steger and Sauk Village. It borders the Cook County municipalities of Richton Park and South Chicago Heights, the Indiana state line, I-57 and the south suburban airport planning area.
At one point, nearly 30 alternatives were explored, and the county has narrowed the scope to six alternatives to design and construct highway improvements along the Crete-Monee Road corridor with various connections to IL-50 and IL-394, Kupkowski said.
A no-build alternative assumes no improvements will be made and only regular road maintenance will be done.
The county is looking decades out so it doesn’t build a road system that is obsolete, Kupkowski said.
Truck traffic and warehouse development has been increasing throughout the county, officials said.
In 2015, trucks carried $282 billion in goods through Will County, and it’s estimated to increase to about $1.2 trillion in goods by 2040, project documents said.
Will County’s largest employer and freight mover is Amazon, which recently built fulfillment centers in Monee, University Park and Matteson, in or adjacent to the study area, according to project documents.
The increased freight traffic in eastern Will County was introduced without accompanying improvements to the county transportation network or a designated truck route network, leading to uncontrolled freight movements on roads that were not designed to support significant truck travel, project documents said.
Kupkowski said safety is the county’s number one goal.
Part of the reason for surveys and request for feedback is to gather information that officials might not know, she said.
While the county has data on accidents and traffic volumes, officials do not know about intersections or other locations in which a near-miss accident may have occurred, she said. The county also looks at other anecdotal information or opinions from residents who live or work in the proposed area.
Crete-Monee Road
County officials anticipate Crete-Monee Road will remain one lane in each direction, but improvements will be needed, such as wider shoulders and intersections and thicker pavement to accommodate the weight of trucks, Kupkowski said.
The preliminary engineering phase is expected to take up to three years, while the next phase that includes land acquisition could take 18 months to two years as the project continues to be refined.
The more data the county can collect during the early planning periods ultimately makes for a better road system, Kupkowski said. The county is working to reduce the number of trucks traveling down residential areas.
“The whole goal is to build a safe roadway system that fits holistically with the area,” she said. “This is the time to provide comments. Let us know your concerns.”
Construction, which could run more than $100 million, wouldn’t occur until at least 2030 or 2031, Kupkowski said. A future public engagement session is likely to take place next year.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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