At Tuesday’s council meeting, there was quite a bit of discussion about the Northmoor Road improvement project. If the city is going to use IDOT funds for this project, they have to follow IDOT’s rules, and in this case it would mean widening the street to five lanes between Allen and Sheridan roads. The road doesn’t need five lanes.
So, the City Council is trying to persuade IDOT to see things the city’s way and approve fewer lanes for this project, yet not jeopardize our share of federal funds in the process. This is all laudable.
I couldn’t help but notice the irony, though, when Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken started waxing eloquent about why we need to say “no” to IDOT. We need to stand up and say “no,” she said, because these five-lane highways harm “mature neighborhoods.” And if they don’t believe it harms “mature neighborhoods,” then they can come down here and a take a little tour, she continued. We need to tell IDOT that we’re not going to let them mar one more “mature neighborhood,” even if it means losing that federal money, she concluded. She made a very strong statement, and I agree wholeheartedly with it.
I just wish she’d been that bold toward Bradley University when they decided to decimate a “mature neighborhood” for the sake of a parking garage in her own district.
*My thanks to PeoriaIllinoisan from whom I shamelessly stole this picture.