Prairie Parkway

The Prairie Parkway is a proposed transportation project by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to connect Interstate 80 to Interstate 88 in the outer western and southwestern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.

In July 2002 a planning corridor from I-80 near Minooka to I-88 near Elburn was protected from development in Grundy, Kendall and Kane counties under Illinois' Corridor Protection Act.

A legal challenge to the state's Corridor Protection Act for the Prairie Parkway was unanimously rejected by the Illinois Supreme Court. This decision was later appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case.

On November 28, 2007, IDOT announced a revised Corridor Protection Map was recorded that superseded the original map. The new Corridor Protection Map follows the B5 freeway corridor.

A study was started in 2003 to examine transportation issues and possible solutions in roughly the same area as the corridor.

A report within the study indicated that, by the year 2030, there would be significant population growth in the study area and most of the area's roads would be congested as a result. Three counties in the study area - Will, Kendall and Kane - were among the 100 fastest-growing counties in the U.S. from 2000 to 2004. As a possible solution to the area's traffic problems, a number of alternatives were considered, including widening existing roads, new freeways, traffic management techniques, and transit extensions.

In October 2005 IDOT presented three options for further study:

1. A "no build" alternative consisting of planned improvements to IL 47 and WiKaDuKe Trail independent of building a new Prairie Parkway freeway.

2. A "build" alternative consisting of the 34-mile (55 km) B2 freeway corridor paralleling IL 47 to the west, connecting to I-88 northeast of Kaneville and connecting to I-80 west of Morris, plus upgrading a 12-mile (19 km) segment of IL 47 from Caton Farm Road to Morris.

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Wikipedia