The village of Sugar Grove in partnership with Kane County, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Tollway will host a public hearing Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, regarding potential improvements to the Illinois 47 (Sugar Grove Parkway) interchange with Interstate 88 (Reagan Memorial Tollway) in Kane County.

The hearing will be an open-house format and is set for 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Waubonsee Community College’s Academic and Professional Center Event Room. Attendees are encouraged to use the north entrance to the campus located at Illinois 47 and Waubonsee Drive in Sugar Grove.

The Waubonsee Sugar Grove campus is closed today (Wednesday, Dec. 13) due to a water main break, but as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, night-time classes were still on schedule. Check the Waubonsee Community College website and this story on Kane County Connects for updates.

The purpose of the hearing is to obtain public input on the preferred alternative, the Environmental Assessment, and the section 4(f) impacts to Hannaford Woods/Nickels Farm Forest Preserve.

Interested persons may attend anytime between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Exhibits will be on display and an audiovisual presentation will be shown continuously during the hearing. Project team members will be present to discuss the project and answer questions.

A public forum will begin at 6 p.m., where the public will be invited to make a statement to a court reporter to be included in the official record of the project.

Section 4(f) protects significant publicly-owned parks, recreational areas, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, and historic sites of national, state, or local significance.  Hannaford Woods/Nickels Farm Forest Preserve is covered under section 4(f) and the 4(f) document describes the impacts to the resource and efforts to avoid, minimize and mitigate or enhance the resource.

The EA document has been completed and will be presented at the public hearing. The EA will be available for public review and comment on at www.sugargroveinterchange.org at the Sugar Grove Village Hall, the Sugar Grove Public Library, and at the IDOT District 1 office at 201 W. Center Court in Schaumburg.  Comments will be accepted through Jan. 19, 2018.

The hearing will be accessible to people with disabilities. Anyone needing special assistance should contact Peter Johnston at (773) 399-0112.

About The Project

SOURCE: sugargroveinterchange.org

Illinois Route 47 (IL 47) was recently designated as Sugar Grove Parkway in Sugar Grove, Illinois. The study area on IL 47 extends from Old Oaks Drive/Waubonsee Drive (the northern Waubonsee Community College Entrance) to Green Road, for a length of approximately 2.2 miles.

The Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88) has been studied approximately 3,000 feet east and west of IL 47 for a length of approximately 1.1 miles. The proposed project is located within the Village of Sugar Grove and unincorporated Sugar Grove and Blackberry Townships in southern Kane County, Illinois.

At a meeting in May, the alternative that is preferred by the Project Study Group was Alternative I-4, the Partial Cloverleaf with Loop Ramp in the Northeast Quadrant, because (1) it wouldn’t result in potential operational issues with back to back left turn lanes resulting in queues spilling into IL 47 through lanes, and (2) wouldn’t necessitate a future project.

The estimated construction cost of Alternative I-4 was $19.8 million in 2016 dollars.

Summary From Group Meeting 5

• AG 5 IL 47 Evaluation Matrices
• CAG 5 Interchange Evaluation Matrices
• CAG 5 Powerpoint Presentation
• CAG 5 Preferred Alternative Exhibit
• CAG 5 Summary of Alternatives
• CAG 5 Meeting Summary