Will County board votes to drop 140th Street expansion from plan, then removes entire transportation report after heated debate

Will County Board members on July 17 voted to take the A Hundred 40 Third Street expansion out of the county’s transportation improvement plan (TIP) after extended public comment from the village of Homer Glen, Homer Township and nearby residents. Later in the session the board voted to remove the entire transportation plan matter from the meeting agenda after legal staff clarified that the TIP is a required reporting document the county engineer files with Illinois Department of Transportation.

The decision and why it mattered Residents and local officials urged the board to stop or substantially scale back a proposed multi‑lane expansion of A Hundred 40 Third Street, a 3.5‑mile county project estimated in materials discussed at the meeting to cost tens of millions of dollars. Mayor Christina of Homer Glen told the board, “If this project was presented to you today … would you be willing to spend $70,000,000 on 3 and a half miles of road … knowing that an overwhelming majority of residents in Homer Glen time and time again ask you to please deny this…