Major Plainfield road project aims to ease traffic despite backlash from neighbors

Jeanette D’Arcy said she put up her Christmas tree for the last time at her house on South Naperville Road in Plainfield this year.

That’s because part of her approximately 11 acres of land will eventually be used for a major road project which village of Plainfield officials have said will be crucial to alleviating traffic congestion along a major roadway. But nearby residents like D’Arcy, 95, who will be affected aren’t happy about it.

“We raised our eight children here,” she said. “We have lots of good memories.”

D’Arcy’s property is one of about 16 private residences which the village needed to acquire to make room for the extension of 143rd Street from Route 59 across the area which includes her neighborhood and crosses the DuPage River. The aim is to divert truck traffic off of Route 59 and give a more direct route to Interstate 55.

Allen Persons, the director of public works for the village of Plainfield, said the goal of the project is to improve traffic safety, which is probably the issue officials hear most about from residents, but they concede the project has its downsides.

“There is no question that the people closest to the path are going to be negatively impacted,” said Mayor John Argoudelis. “There is no way to satisfy everybody’s needs.”

One Village Board member, Kevin Calkins, has vociferously argued against the project, voting no on measures for it, including against the purchase of D’Arcy’s property at a Dec. 13 meeting for a little over $1 million. Calkins has refuted the village’s assertions about the benefits of the project and has decried the effects on the nearby residents, one of whom is his mother.

“It’s going to be destroyed,” he said of the area around the neighborhood.

But, Argoudelis has stressed there is no turning back at this point, largely because about three-quarters of the estimated $67 million cost of the project will be covered by state and federal funding that’s already committed to its completion. The mayor said because of decisions made years ago and the funding situation, the village’s “hand has been tied.” The village will contribute as much as about $17 million, but will continue to look for other outside funding opportunities, Persons said.

One of those decisions came about three years ago after the village opted not to try to acquire property owned by Commonwealth Edison which has power lines running by the neighborhood. Originally, the village thought it could use that property for the road extension, but the utility company said it was not interested in allowing it. Persons said it’s legally more difficult, and potentially more expensive, to acquire property used for utilities instead of other types of privately-owned land.

So the village chose to go the route of acquiring the private residences just north of the ComEd lines and other property owned by businesses.

Part of that land includes about a 2-mile strip of the southern most part of Fletcher Lake which is owned by the Bass & Gill Club, whose members use the area for fishing. The organization has spoken to the village about a potential deal for the village purchasing part of the lake, but the members have adamantly voiced opposition to the project.

Members of the club have argued taking part of their lake would harm the natural environment, destroy animal habitats and potentially lead to runoff into nearby bodies of water.

Moreover, the club said its members come from all over the Chicago area to its property in Plainfield, which includes seven different lakes, to get away and enjoy nature, an ability which will be impacted by the new road.

“You go out there for peace and serenity and now you’re going to have noise from this four-lane truck highway,” said Rick Pach, the vice president of the Bass & Gill Club.

Members of the club have come to Plainfield Village Board meetings to voice their concerns about the project. After one meeting in September, the village published a 27-page document with responses to 34 questions or points made by the club members and others.

For instance, the village said it will spend nearly $3 million above what is typically required to mitigate the impact on Fletcher Lake by expanding the lake to compensate for the part which will be taken to build the road.

The village said it’s also taking measures to minimize erosion and sedimentation which could fall into the lake as much as possible. It will also place a fence between the road and the lake to reduce salt and snow being deposited into the lake, and will add vegetation to provide more habitats for wildlife.

Some residents asked whether other potential routes were analyzed to create the pathway to the interstate. Persons said the village examined five different corridors and determined 143rd Street was the option that would be least expensive least impactful to residents and the environment.

On the point of increased noise caused by the road extension, the village does estimate an increase in noise level by the year 2050, but the increase does not meet the state’s threshold to consider residential property as being “impacted.”

Still, Argoudelis has said the completion of the road extension could lead to more benefits to Plainfield beyond just helping reduce heavy traffic. On the west side of 143rd Street lies a large amount of open land that village officials have said is well-suited for industrial development.

Argoudelis argued it’s a prime opportunity for Plainfield to encourage the type of industrial development which would strengthen and diversify the village’s tax base, shifting the disproportionate burden from homeowners to big companies. The mayor said about 88% of the village’s property tax revenue comes from residents.

Still, some on the board have said such an industrial development should be planned carefully so as to not add too many trucks onto 143rd Street.

Despite the potential benefits, the residents living near the planned extension aren’t buying the arguments.

Paula Mingucci, 60, said she lives in the same house on Naperville Road that her father built in the early 1960s, just a few lots down from where the extension will be built. She said even as a child, she appreciated the quiet of the area while walking around the lake.

“A four-lane truck highway does not belong in a residential community,” she said. “It just doesn’t.”

Still, Argoudelis said while the village is “committed to minimizing the negative impact of this road,” the project is “not going to be stopped.” The village anticipates it will acquire all of the necessary property it needs, either through purchase deals or eminent domain, early next year. Construction could then start over the summer which will take between 18 months and two years to complete.

“The current board is committed to the project,” Argoudelis said. “It is going forward.”