Hundreds reportedly gathered in East Dundee last night for the Dundee Township Annual Town meeting to hear presentations for and against Kane County’s planned Longmeadow Parkway Project.
Following Q&A with attendees after the presentations, a vote was taken to approve opponents’ proposal to require a referendum question regarding the project be placed on the March 15, 2016 General Election ballot. According to a Facebook page for the opposition group (“Stop Longmeadow Tollway”), an advisory referendum question will be put to voters next year. The vote was reported to be 232 in favor of the referendum versus 65 against.
If allowed to be constructed, that portion of the abomination known as “Longmeadow Parkway” passing through the Village of Barrington Hills should be renamed the “Bobby Abboud Expressway”, as consolation for his lack of political success. The Village, under his direction, did not participate in any planning of the “Parkway”. Abboud was attempting to curry favor with McHenry County politicians and voters in his 2008 run for Congress, and in the process tossed Barrington Hills under the bus on the issue by keeping the residents uninformed. No matter, for his efforts, Abboud was defeated by Don Manzullo 61% to 36%.
Carlos, your attitude is very selfish!
Patty Maroni deserves much of the credit fot the highway situation.
She deserves to be celebrated in perpetuity with Bobbie and I think a statue (of both of them) should be erected at city hall and lighted 24 hours a day. Small votive candles can be provided to give the bronze statues that ethereal presense and a religious overtone.
How about an eternal flame too? No cost is too great to immortalize the immoral.
Longmeadow Parkway
First, Patti Meroni said she was caught off guard to hear about its progress. Then, Fritz Gohl and Patti told us that Longmeadow Parkway was a forgone conclusion. Widening of Algonquin was inevitable and discussion was simply where to put the underpasses for the horse trails and new traffic lights (gas stations to follow).
Wrong again!!!
Looking the other way to accommodate growth in Huntley and the western end of Dundee Township was a likely Abboud deal to stay silent and promote his political maneuverings. In the campaign, Patti lectured the One Barrington Hills slate that they didn’t realize that many miles of our roads were under County care. Of course! But, that was no excuse for the negligence on the part of the failed Save 5 Acre / SOS trustees to allow Brinker and Otis to be such a mess requiring us to drive in the middle of the street to avoid the dangerous pot holes. This is the legacy they left us.
Great to see in the distance that Maison, Croll and Cecola were all in attendance at the Longmeadow Parkway Dundee township meeting last night to support Barrington Hills’ best interests. Something Patti Meroni, Fritz Gohl and their allies failed to do. S5A and SOS legacy is unnecessary litigation and a commercial boarding disaster that destroys resident and neighbor rights.
Thank goodness for the active citizens opposing Longmeadow Parkway that would effectively cut our Village in half and destroy wildlife habitat and our open spaces living. The old guard talked about save open spaces, the new regime is doing something about it already. What a relief!
Open spaces is what u want? Well I want and the many drivers of our lovely county want another bridge across the fox river. To maybe cut our commute time in half. If they cared about the spaces then they would have cared for these “open spaces” give me a break. I have to commute for the next 17 years and I am going to vote for a bridge. Whatever gets me home faster is what I want. I am tired of leaving my house at 530 so that I can get to work an hour early instead of waiting in traffic! Look at the benefit of Kane county and their many bridges across. Less traffic less headache!
Dear Molly;
Thank you for your insightful input on this matter. I realize how frustrating it must be to fight traffic that early in the morning mearly to go to work and produce egg mc muffins all day.
However you must understand that the ecological ramifications of this major construction can be devastating to local flora and fauna in our area.
Now that the outgoing trustees have obliterated property values on the east side of the river you may wish to move a short distance closer to the arches and sleep in for that extra hour.
Molly, I understand your frustration with all the traffic and if the Longmeadow bridge would fix that problem I would support it. However Kane County’s own consultants in their report on the traffic analysis show that this bridge will have no effect on local traffic congestion, in fact some of their evidence suggests it will make it worse. It’s the wrong bridge in the wrong place and we’re going to waste $200 million building it.
With the opening of the rt 31 bypass the traffic on rt 62 has changed. Some would say the evening traffic is dramatically better westbound. The studies Ed mentioned above (done as part of the justification of the LMP) suggest the traffic on 90 will be improved by the impact of the LMP. So is the reason for the project to improve the commute on 90 – or the improvement along rt 62? I state that the traffic studies need to be updated based upon current facts and the potential upgrades now being done to 90. If more lanes on 90 impact our area – then perhaps the obvious result will be clear to more residents and this project can be put back on the shelf where it belongs.