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Village of Oak Park
F.Y.I. for March 2002
The Village is putting officials in Springfield and Washington, D.C., on notice of the community's concerns about any expansion of the Eisenhower Expressway and its intent to act aggressively to protect Oak Park's interests -- including insisting that all transportation alternatives such as a westward extension of the CTA Blue Line be fully considered.
A law firm with an excellent track record in environmental law and one of the most effective lobbying practices in Washington, D.C., has been hired to make sure the community's interests are heard and protected in the state and nation's capitals where final decisions will be made. The firm, O'Conner & Hannan, will team-up with one of Illinois' preeminent lobbying law firms, Sorling, Northrup, Hanna, Cullen and Cochran, to present the Oak Park position in Springfield.
With this outside technical, legal and lobbying assistance, the Village is developing a coordinated strategy to ensure that the Illinois Department of Transportation complies with all federal laws and regulations established to protect communities from negative impacts of transportation projects.
State transportation planners also will be urged to revisit a 1987 IDOT report commissioned by the General Assembly that proposed reconnecting entire sections of the Village with park land or parking lots over the expressway, along with redesigned and enhanced CTA transit stations.
As currently conceived by IDOT, the Ike expansion project would reconfigure the roadway largely within the existing right-of-way to create "high-occupancy vehicle" (HOV) lanes. IDOT also has indicated it would like to move the Austin Boulevard and Harlem Avenue exits from their current center lane location to the right, outside lane. No money has been allocated for future design phases or construction through at least 2006.
By acting now and in conjunction with other potentially impacted communities before any formal draft plans are presented by IDOT as part of its current preliminary study, the Village is in a strong position to influence decisions and ensure community concerns are adequately addressed.
The Village Board and staff will keep residents informed of developments, and alert them to opportune times to contact the appropriate state and federal officials. In addition, a citizens' commission will be appointed by the Village Board to involve residents in the process.
For more information, call 358.5770 or email village@vil.oak-park.il.us.
Information also will be posted at www.vil.oak-park.il.us/News/Special_Report_IKE.html.
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