Tom Warne Report, 31 August 2012
Illinois – Federal officials are pulling their approval of the controversial Prairie Parkway highway project, which would cut through far west suburban farmlands to connect Interstate Highway 88 (Reagan Memorial Tollway) with Interstate Highway 80 in Grundy County. An agreement to end litigation redirects millions of dollars intended for the project to expand existing roadways in the Kendall County area, which the proposed 37-mile north-south highway was to cut across.
A lawsuit in Federal District Court had been filed by Friends of the Fox River and Citizens Against the Sprawlway against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The Federal Highway Administration issued a written decision this week rescinding a 2008 record of decision which approved the project. The Illinois Department of Transportation was reportedly in support of the action, as the FHWA said the agency decided not to move forward with the highway.
The plaintiff groups claimed that federal officials and IDOT had failed to consider other transportation options and were thus in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act in approving the Prairie Parkway. The estimated $1 billion project was fought for 11 years, and the lawsuit challenging its approval was filed in 2009.