116 Hamilton Place  Vernon Hills, IL 60061-1041  November 16, 2000
	Sierra Club Woods & Wetlands Group

Council Members:

Thank you for your attention to transportation alternatives for Lake County, and for entertaining the Environmental Law & Policy Center staff members to address the Council in October. I write to enlarge on a few of the points they made.

The Sierra Club Woods & Wetlands Group territory covers most of Lake County and the NE part of Cook County. Over one hundred of our members live in Lake Forest.

We are alarmed by the potential environmental consequences of the extension of Rt. 53, and have been engaged for years in support of alternatives. As the accompanying map illustrates, the proposed right-of-way for the extension will sacrifice scores of wetlands. Many of these are classified as ADID wetlands in recognition of the  high quality wetlands known to provide habitat for endangered species. Lake County is home to more threatened and endangered species than any other county in Illinois. It’s crucial for the survival of many of these species that we preserve these wetlands.

It’s patently clear that the Tollway wants to extend Rt. 53. As Ms. Spillane of ELPC pointed out, they have distorted the facts. They give the impression that the environmental impacts of the alternative road improvements will be worse, and understate the impacts of the extension. Their literature presents further impacts to wetlands already damaged by existing roads, and compares them to initial impacts to pristine wetlands by the extension.

As the Tollway slices through  the wetland homes of endangered species, they only measure the acres in the right of way, and not the entire impacted wetland. In reality, the damage to wetlands from a new road will be numerous, severe, broadly cast, extensive, and long term. It will destroy up to 7,000 acres of wetlands. Often overlooked, the construction phase of the project will last several years, and with no existing roadway for access, will inflict degradation that defies comparison to other alternatives. If constructed, the new road would invite sprawl that would multiply the environmental impacts into the future. In use, run-off carrying salt, and oil, as well as the sheer volume of drainage water, would impact the entire wetland network.

Because of the extreme scale of the wetlands impacts, and the high mitigation ratio for ADID wetlands, it is improbable that enough mitigation sites even exist in Lake County to satisfy the Army Corps of Engineers.

The secondary effects of extending Rt. 53 will amplify these problems. While we admit that road neglect does not stop sprawl, new Tollway access to sensitive areas will draw more development toward its environmentally destructive path.
As I hope you agree from the presentations by the Environmental Law & Policy Center, other options are more viable. For the future of our shared environment, I ask that you please revise your recommendations for transportation in Lake County, and place reconsideration of your transportation position on the City Council agenda.
 

Evan L. Craig  Chair
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