Joliet developer may not have to wait on ‘closed loop’

Joliet may be ready to break an unwritten moratorium on warehouse development that depends on access to Route 53.

The moratorium was mentioned by some City Council members in April 2020 after they approved NorthPoint Development’s plan for the Compass Global Logistics Hub. The plan includes a closed-loop road network aimed at keeping truck traffic off Route 53.

A month after the NorthPoint vote the council unanimously turned down a plan for the Joliet Logistics Park that requires access to Route 53. It appeared the moratorium was on.

Now, council member Larry Hug said it’s time to reconsider Joliet Logistics Park.

At the council meeting Tuesday, Hug said opponents could slow down the NorthPoint plan and its promised closed loop for years.

“We’re not shutting down all development in that corridor waiting for that closed loop because we know there are parties trying to tie it up in court,” he said.

He said that developers of Joliet Logistics Park are committed to connecting to the closed-loop road network if it becomes available.

He made his comments as the council tabled a vote on Joliet Logistics Park, which came back to the city for reconsideration in October. The council plans to vote on the project March 15.

Hug said Friday that he would be willing to consider other Route 53 projects when developers make a commitment to tie into the NorthPoint closed loop in the future.

“We’re not going to stop development because people in Manhattan want to spend years in court – if that’s what it turns out to be,” he said.

The reference to nearby Manhattan appears to be aimed at people such as John Kieken, the Manhattan resident who is among the leaders of the Stop NorthPoint group that has filed a lawsuit to block the project.

The case has a hearing on March 15 in Will County Court.

“I think they’re being disingenuous when they say NorthPoint is going to solve their traffic problems if they’re not going to wait first to see how it works,” Kieken said.

He said there’s “no good data” to support the closed-loop concept, pointing to the lack of a traffic study for the expanded version of the NorthPoint plan that the city approved in December.

The Joliet Logistics Park project is at Route 53 and Millsdale Road. One warehouse has been built on the site, and the developer is seeking approval to move ahead with another 285 acres.

It’s not the only project depending on Route 53 access that was rejected by the city.

Chicagoland Speedway gave up a plan to develop warehouses on land outside the track area after an Aug. 2020 meeting with the council’s Economic Development Committee, in which Hug, who chairs the committee, said the city had set “a new standard” to keep trucks off Route 53.