The need for Prairie Parkway

by Matt Gauntt

There has been much discussion in blogs, campaign material and newspapers regarding the Prairie Parkway.  With some significant elections that have already been decided in part because of a candidate’s support or opposition to the Prairie Parkway, it is important to offer some history, background and merits of the potential project.

There are numerous questions to be answered in regards to the construction of an interstate highway:  a)  Is it needed, b)  Will it cause “sprawl”,  c)  Is that “sprawl” bad, d)  Will the impacts of the new roadway be worth it?  While we could discuss item b & c above in great detail, I’ll only touch on those topics, while focusing on items a & d.

History

The History of the Prairie Parkway goes back to the 1960’s.  In the early 1960’s, IDOT conducted a study of the Fox Valley Expressway.  This roadway was essentially planned for the Kane-DuPage County Border and would have traveled from I-90 to I-80.  The original study was placed on the shelves until around 1990 when it was resurrected.  In 1993, IDOT officially terminated the Fox Valley Expressway.  In its place, we now have discussions of expanding IL-59, Eola Road expansion, the Wikaduke Trail and other roadway expansions.  With the Fox Valley Expressway’s demise, transportation planners started to look at a facility farther out.  Originally called the “Outer Belt Freeway”, it is now referred to as the Prairie Parkway.

Is it Needed?

As a traffic engineer, I could talk at length about transportation computer models, analysis, etc., that would certainly support an argument, but the details may get lost in the discussion, and those models certainly support the construction of the Prairie Parkway.  However, I would like to bring the discussion down to a more elemental level.

The key element that reflects the need for the Prairie Parkway are two factors:  population growth and the movement of goods (trucks).

Population growth is a factor of the strength of the Chicagoland economy and property rights.  Our constitution and our laws reflect the bedrock value of individual property rights.  These rights have distinguished our country from others and arguably have provided the backdrop for the American miracle of our country’s strength.  Part of these property rights allow for a property owner to expect certain conditions for the development and use of property.  Without significant changes to our laws concerning property rights and the way we develop, population growth in the suburbs will not substantially change.  While some may be tempted to rein in these property rights, doing so would drastically curtail the investment income that farmers and other property owners could look forward to in the future, and would go against the grain of our constitutional rights.

Looking at the population growth for Kane County and Kendall County, one only needs to look at the population growth of DuPage County, which will be a harbinger for Kane and Kendall Counties.

Year  DuPage Population
1950  154,600
1970  491.900
1990  781,700
2000  904,200
2010 (est) 960,500

Then we look at the growth of Kane and Kendall Counties

Year  Kane   Kendall
1950  150,400  12,100
1970  251,000  26,400
1990  317,500  39,400
2000  404,100  54,500
2010 (est) 466,000  ---
2030 (est) 692,000  180,000

It is clear that population growth will continue in the area, whether we like it or not.  The question is whether we are going to plan for it and provide for proper growth of the transportation system.

Interestingly, many question whether or not major transportation systems will increase growth or not.  A comparison between the growth in population between DuPage County, which had a major highway built, I-355, and Lake County, which has not had a major transportation facility constructed, is very similar.  In 1950, Lake County had a population of 179,000, and then in 2000, Lake County’s population was 644,000.  The same can be said for Will County.  It is clear that population growth will continue whether or not a major transportation facility is built.

Why an Interstate vs. Arterials?

Many that have debated the merits of the Prairie Parkway have suggested that IL-47 should be widened instead.  The truth is that both are probably needed, but for different reasons.

As a rule of thumb, an arterial will carry roughly 10,000 cars per day per lane.  Thus, a two-lane roadway such as IL-47 will carry about 20,000 car per day, while a four-lane road like IL-64 in St. Charles or Fabyan Parkway near Batavia/Geneva will carry roughly 40,000 vehicles per day.

On the other hand, a freeway will carry roughly 25,000 vehicles per day per lane.  I-355 near I-88 carries approximately 125,000 vehicles per day on 6 lanes and I-88 near I-355 carries about 170,000 vehicles per day.

The other benefit of an interstate versus surface highways (IL-47) or arterials is that the accident rate per vehicle mile traveled for interstates is less than half of that for arterials and the fatality rates for interstates is about 60% of that for surface highways.  Thus, the construction of the Prairie Parkway will have a profound impact on the safety of the motoring public.

Tax Implications

The final benefit that I’ll bring up is the impact on taxes.  Examine the difference between DuPage County and Lake County.  Primarily due to the existence of a superior interstate system DuPage County has approximately 50% more square footage of industrial and office space.

Without the construction of the Prairie Parkway, Kane and Kendall Counties will continue to lag other counties in industrial and office development.  The location of I-39 and I-88 in Lee County has meant that industrial development has been skipping Kane County to move to a location with better transportation.

What does this have to do with taxes?  County government primarily gets their revenue from property tax.  Cities and Villages primarily get their revenue from sales tax.  Schools primarily get their revenue from property tax.

With proper transportation infrastructure, industrial and office properties will blossom.  School Districts will get significant property tax from these developments, but will have no students to go along with them.  Thus schools would get all the tax benefit, but no additional students to serve.  Without proper transportation infrastructure, western Kane and Kendall Counties will continue to be bedroom communities with only residential development like in Lake County, which will increase student populations without the benefit of tax income from these industrial and office developments.

In closing, while the Prairie Parkway has stirred intense passions by those that will be in close proximity to the new roadway, the benefits of constructing this facility are clear.  It will do a better job of handling the coming traffic, it will result in fewer deaths and injuries and it will help create jobs and tax revenue.

*******

About Matt Gaunt:

Prior to changing careers, Matt Gauntt was a traffic engineer licensed nationally and in four different states.  He consulted for Kane, DuPage and Will County along with the Illinois Department of Transportation and represented DuPage County and others as an expert witness.  He has also taught seminars for IDOT, the American Public Works Association and Kane County on transportation issues.

Previously, Matt was a Village Trustee for the Village of Hanover Park, a Trustee for the Northwest Suburban Mass Transit Agency and a member of the Metra Citizen’s Advisory Board.

Comments

[pete speer]

Matt's failing is that his analysis regarding population growth assumes that the past will being replicated in the future. And yes I know Santayana's dictum.

But it is how we learn from the past that is important. The growth of the collar counties is best exemplified by the expansion in DuPage and the development of the Naperville-Aurora satellite city. The growth in the collars occurred because of the demand of the last generation for suburban living while they continued to commute to Chicago and Cook County. That movement occurred because of cheap land and cheap gas. While the former is still -- in a relative sense -- available in western Kane and and in Kendall Counties, sharp breaks on small plat development have been put in place in the former. In addition, the point to Chicago hub rail transportation has reached a limit.

Massive public (Federal and State) funding for a connector interstate is a long way from reality. It is not even clear that when considered as a whole piggyback rail is not a viable substitute, at least in terms of energy use, for road freight movement.

In a State which can not fund its current Health Care bills and is trending towards higher current deficits across the board, while its own road system deteriorates, the only relief can come from the Feds. Calling the Prairie parkway an interstate for Federal funding purposes is like calling a sow a stallion

[spintreebob]

HIGHWAY TO NOWHERE?
I respect Matt. I passed his petitions and voted for him. But this analysis is myopic.

I am a new resident of the Prairie Parkway corridor (near Rte 47, Elburn). I'm one of the few people in this corridor who seeks to commute North-South (Elburn to Bloomington-Normal). The vast majority are frustrated in traveling East-West, not N-S.

In talking to voters door-to-door and people at gas stations (2 tanks a week in the corridor) I found it low priority for everyone. A few were anti. The vast majority are resigned to politicians being out of touch with the taxpayers and don't dwell on it much.)

"Build it and they will come" seems to be the operative concept here. Some corridor residents want massive new development that will turn us into Randall Rd II and increase property values so we can flip and make a quick buck.

Some want the other extreme of keeping the corridor totally farmland with no new development.

Most people favor (or think pragmatic) a compromise between the extremes.

The question is whether politicians, bureaucrats and "consultants" should impose one of those extremes on everyone who wants either the other extreme, or a compromise.

First of all, is it needed? Compared to I55, I39 is like abandoned when I travel it, whether Thurs, Fri or Sun. N-S Hwy 47 has less traffic than E-W 64, 38, 30, etc.

We could digress into the condition of Hwy 47, which is the reason for its traffic problems, not the volume of traffic. We could digress into the lack of interchanges at I88 and other anecdotal situations. But let's get to the heart of it.

The Federal Dept of Transportation is really the Federal Dept of Pork and Earmarks. It had a mission in the 50s of building the National Highway Defense System to protect us from Communism. That protective system is now complete. Communism is defeated (abroad at least).

The Federal DOT is now searching for a way to justify its continued existence. The result is that it encourages a North American Highway and a Prairie Parkway and an unwanted Towanda-Barnes expressway in McLean County. All of these are expressways to nowhere.

They are monuments to CEMEX, the Mexican cement company that is the biggest cement company in the world, in the US, and in IL.

Consider, if the Federal DOT were abolished tomorrow, there would be no interest in expressways to nowhere. Money in Washington is the sole reason for the existence of these plans.

Federal money is not available for "maintenance of the infrastructure". It is only available for ribbon cutting opportunities of our politicians for glamourous new projects.

The message from the Beltway insiders is "Dangle the money and they will come ... to kiss your mistletoe and get consulting contracts ... with the expectation that consulting contracts and legal fees for eminent domain fights and PR agency fees might lead to campaign contributions. This is just HDO by another name.

[jorod]

If you want to build a new road, fine. But it should be a toll road and tolls should be set by an independent commission so that it doesn't become a political football. Tolls should be related to cost and use. Also, any such road should be tied to a regional transportation program, including a 3rd airport and a by-pass around the southern suburbs connecting to I-65.

I don't know where the support will come from though. We can't even get a 4-lane road on 159th street west of US 45 built. And 159th is a State road.

[tfb]

It is intelligent to plan for the future. For those of you who do not think westward expansion will continue to occur I call your attention to the very recent revival in the U.S. birthrate which now exceeds replacement levels across ALL groups. Now look at many places in California, Portland Or where cheaper land prices are compelling people to drive an hour to pick up public transportation that then carries them to their place of work for yet another hour.

I have a different vantage then most, for over 15 years my work has involved almost constant travel throughout the country. In many places it is a nightmare.

It seems to me you get a few demographers in a room and a few traffic engineers on a consulting basis and let them do their "professional" best to determine the best course of action.

tfb

[Matt Gauntt]

Thanks for all the comments. A good, healthy discussion is always a positive thing.

Pete - The sharp breaks that you discuss are only by the County. Cities/Villages have the ability to do effectively what they want to a limit. For instance, Elburn was always considered a community where development was discouraged. However, they have recently decided to develop more agressively. It has happened time and time again, and nothing is in place to indicate that it will continue.

The interstate designation will most likely happen as a spur or connector from one interstate to another. For instance, the entry road to O'Hare is I-190. For the 3-digit interstate designation, an odd number like 190 is considered a "spur" off an interstate (in this case I-90), whereas an even number, i.e. I-294, is an alternate (in this case to I-94).

Bob - thanks for the comments. Yes, I remember circulating petitions for Forbes in weather much like today with you.

Disolving Federal DOT would probably be a fine thing. USDOT was only established back in 1967. There would still be a need for coordinating activities, but letting Illinois keep all the gas tax that it generates would be a net plus for Illinois, since we have traditionally been a donor state (sending more to DC than we get back).

However, there would still be a need for maintaining and expanding highways. I would suggest that State politicians are no better or worse than Federal politicians in determining best need versus political whims. So, you might not see a lot of difference, just different players.

Jorod - You are talking about the Illiana Expressway. A simple Google search will let you see a lot of information about this. With the recent extension of I-355, discussion of the Illiana Expressway has come back up.

TFB - Completely agree.

[Hascat]

Matt:

How would the road be paid for? Federal and state money for capital projects is getting more and more scarce every year. A privately-funded and operated tollway might be the only option. This would also force a hard economic analysis of the true need (e.g. return on investment) for such a facility.

[Matt Gauntt]

Hascat,

There are a whole variety of ways that it could be paid for.

The Federal side is perhaps not as difficult as would be imagined. The last Federal transportation bill (SAFTEA-LU) increased Federal transportation spending by a significant amount. State funding has been a major problem, as our Governor has siphoned off about $1 billion from transportation in the last few years (note all the potholes cropping up). The Prairie Parkway has already received about $200 million in funding from the Federal Government.

Another option would be a Tollway. A third alternative would be a private-public partnership, which has been done in the Denver area, with limited success.

To my knowledge, no definitive method of funding has been determined at this time.

[Jan Strasma]

The Prairie Parkway is a bad idea on many levels:

1. It will pave over some 2,000 acres of the best farmland in the world and result in destruction of another 5,000 acres of farmland due to increased development – and that’s the estimate of the Illinois Department of Transportation itself.

2. It will open up added rural areas to development, putting what is now farmland within commuting time for jobs to the north and east – accelerating sprawl in both Kane and Kendall counties and further burdening communities and school districts.

3. It will divert funds from other, more beneficial, transportation projects – the $1 billion or more than would be spent on the Prairie Parkway has to come from somewhere, sacrificing other road projects.

4. Will it really help reduce traffic congestion? The Illinois Department of Transportation projects that the traffic volume on Illinois 47 at the Fox River in Yorkville in the year 2030 would be 48,000 vehicles per day IF the Prairie Parkway is built. But if the Prairie Parkway is not built, the traffic volume would be 48,200 vehicles per day. Should we spend $1 billion to reduce the traffic volume by 200 vehicles a day? (Both projections assume that Illinois 47 would be widened to 4-5 lanes.)

5. The people most affected by the proposed highway don’t want it. Voters in three Kendall County townships (Fox, Lisbon, and Seward) voted Feb. 5 in an advisory referendum, opposing the highway. The vote totals ranged from 58 to 72 percent against. Last April in similar votes, two Kane County townships, Big Rock and Kaneville, voted 88 percent and 81 percent, respectively, against the highway. These five townships cover the length of the proposed Prairie Parkway route with the exception of the Plano and Yorkville areas, both of which have expressed support for the highway.

6. Focusing on existing routes makes more sense and has dramatically less effect on farmland, the environment, and growth. Illinois 47 needs additional lanes now as well as extensive repairs, but IDOT’s attention and funding has been focused on the Prairie Parkway. Other parallel routes, the Eldamain Road extension across the Fox River and the Wikaduke Trail along the eastern county line will diversify the North-South traffic routes by improving and connecting existing roads.

7. The federal funds in the 2005 Transportation Bill are earmarked for a “north-south connector between I-80 and I-88.” The earmark does not specify a freeway or even a specific project, like the Prairie Parkway. IDOT should seek to use those funds for improvements to Illinois 47 (a north-south connector) instead of forging ahead with a 5-mile stub of the Prairie Parkway between Illinois 71 and U.S. 34 which will exhaust the federal money.

[Matt Gauntt]

Mr. Strasma's comments are misguided on many fronts.

1) Yes, it will take out many acres of very productive farmland. While on its face, that sounds like a very bad thing, is it?? The USDA through its Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers across the Country to NOT farm approximately 34 million acres (2005 figures), which costs the taxpayers approximately $2 billion a year. Perhaps a few acres taken out of production is not a bad thing. Furthermore, the use of the land for non-farm related business purposes will generate far more wealth for the US Economy than farm production.

2) The assumption is that NOT building a freeway will result in slowing development. Yorkville, which is in the path of the Prairie Parkway has been one of the fastest growing communities in the area. One only needs to look at Lake County, which spurred the idea of the I-355 extension, to see that development will continue, but it will almost exclusively be residential, which increases student populations without the revenue from office and industrial.

4) The difference in amount of traffic between the build and "no-build" scenarios that Mr. Strasma discusses is pretty much the upper limit of the amount of traffic that can be on IL-47. So, it is really a statistical wash. What he does not mention is the impeded traffic. IDOT has estimated that the B5 Alternative (what is recommended) will cut an estimated 325 million vehicle hours of delay from the overall roadway system in the 14 year analysis period. It is not as simple as reducing 200 cars a day.

6) Funny that Mr. Strasma mentions the Wikaduke Trail. The Wikaduke has been planned because the Fox Valley Expressway was cancelled. Similarly, many other routes will need to be expanded to make up for the Prairie Parkway. All will happen with a much, much higher amount of vehicle hours delay and much higher accident rates.

7) Typically, transportation bills only include a single line that is rather cryptic. That does not determine what is actually meant by the authorization. There are typically documents that accompany a line item's inclusion into a bill. I am very sure that the authorization was specifically for the Prairie Parkway.

5) Voters that are immediately affected by a transportation project are generally opposed to it. In St. Charles, they have desired to put in the Red Gate Road Bridge for a number of years. The people in Wayne have been tremendously opposed to it. However, when there were public hearings about widening IL-64 through St. Charles, the same people wanted to see IL-64 widened even more, to the detriment of St. Charles. They wanted better transportation, just not in their back yards (NIMBY's).

[Jon Zahm]

I appreciate Matt opening up this thread for discussion and his analysis.

I would refer readers
to www.sprawlway.org and www.47plus.org to see more commentary and information that supports Jan Strasma's (and my) position in opposition to the Prairie Parkway.

[Jonathan Satko]

I moved to Yorkville in 2004. At that time, I could reach I-88 via IL-47 or Orchard road in about 20 minutes. Growth along both of these roadways has more than doubled my travel time to I-88, in spite of road widening along much of Orchard Road. With the opening of the Raging Waves waterpark and the likely retail growth this attraction will spur, north-south travel on IL-47 is certain to become mired in gridlock, whether it is widened to 4 lanes or not. For the residents along the Prairie Parkway corridor, its construction will greatly ease east-west travel times, as well as north-south. Build it NOW!