Joliet council adopts settlement to end Northpointe litigation and approves Hobart Road MOU amendment

The Joliet City Council on June 20 adopted an ordinance approving a settlement and mutual releases agreement between the City of Joliet and multiple private parties over the construction of the Northpointe development and also approved a first amendment to the memorandum of understanding for the Hobart Road project with the Illinois Department of Transportation and Will County.

The settlement, described in Council memo 374-25 and tied to Will County case number 2022 MR 138, was presented to councilors as a step that will end ongoing litigation and remove the city’s potential long-term maintenance liability for roads and bridges associated with the closed-loop network for the Northpointe and Centerpointe projects. City attorney Mike Laden said the agreement “will ultimately prevent trucks from the Eastgate development from going on to Route 53” and will stop similar truck traffic from Northpointe on Route 53. Laden also told councilors the settlement removes a “looming multi $100,000,000 liability” that the city could otherwise have faced for maintenance and bridge obligations.

Why it matters: council members and staff said the settlement resolves multiple legal risks and will allow regional traffic studies to proceed with Joliet as the final arbiter of resulting traffic mitigation. Supporters at the meeting said the deal will return jobs and end costly litigation; critics said the public did not have adequate access to the settlement language before the…