Lake County will be asking voters to approve a half percent sales tax increase on April 5 to support its proposed Road Improvement Program. After careful review, W&W has decided to take a neutral position and offer our members a list of pros and cons, and some perspective. This was a difficult decision for the group's Executive Committee.

The county's proposed Program offers several improvements that we have supported in the context of an improved transportation system for years:

• Intersection improvements: Congestion on many of our local roads is exacerbated by back-ups waiting for left and right turners. Turn lanes can go a long way to reduce these bottlenecks, and reduce air pollution from idling SUVs, trucks and cars.
• Intelligent Transportation System: Considering the money we pay for traffic controls already, it's maddening that coordination of traffic lights lacks the intelligence of a video game. The program promises ITS to help you make all the lights on traffic corridors in the area east of Rt. 94, and holds promise for making buses more efficient and attractive by giving them the green too. However, with the budget cuts threatened for mass transit by Illinois, it's unclear whether there will be many PACE or CTA buses around to use it.
• Focus on strategic regional arterials: About 40% of the roads included on the county's program were included in ELPC's Crossroads plan. The Crossroads Plan offered a superior congestion relief alternative to the sprawl and congestion that Rt. 53 would cause, and included expanded mass transit linked with improved SRAs. This Program offers incremental progress on this front.
• A rail underpass at Rt. 60 and the WI Central: With more trains needed, and more coming when double tracking of this route is complete, more grade separations like this one proposed near Butterfield Rd. make lots of sense.

Unfortunately, there are many signs that the money could be spent in a zero sum game. While road improvements are definitely needed across the county, every transportation study that neglects mass transit improvements and the true costs of sprawl predicts more congestion, not less. We won't beat traffic in Lake County by building more of the same. We need a different approach that directs growth away from open space and grows vibrant communities that pollute less.

• No Mass Transit: Lopsided transportation plan. Aside from the underpass and possibilities of ITS, this plan lacks any commitment to the more efficient ways to grow and get around. Money is needed for expanded parking and improved METRA stations, for extended and expanded rail service, and more buses. This is crucial to break away from the vicious circle of chasing bad development with roads that cause it, and instead encourage development around transit.

• County money for state roads: About half of the county's Program is for state roads that the state already plans to improve. And the other half is for state roads that are presently not planned for improvement. Why isn't the state paying for our state roads? We are concerned that the failure of Lake County legislators to bring home state transportation funds will get worse if Springfield considers this sales tax a new revenue source for the state transportation budget. With an austere budget, attempts by Springfield to reallocate dedicated funding sources have become common.
  Lake County has a great need, but gets less than other collar counties that need less. Last year Will County, which has a freeway, bypasses developer impact fees, and also shares our plight of no gas tax, took home $135M more state transportation dollars than Lake County.
  We believe this is because the attention of our legislators is divided between growing a sensible transportation system, and the efforts of a few misguided legislators who perennially attempt to grab money for the environmentally devastating Rt. 53 boondoggle. While Rt. 53 is no longer in the state's transportation plan, the hew and cry from those hoping it will relieve the congestion caused by sprawl is just as shrill now as ever. At a recent Village Board meeting where the county presented its program, the Mayor of Vernon Hills even sought to divert some of these referendum funds directly to Rt. 53. Unless they stop fighting about 53, it's likely that these sales tax funds will be siphoned off as offsets to other counties as well.
• Weak promises: The referendum does not bind the county to the Program it proposes. If it passes, the program will change as projects are found to be less feasible or more attractive, and as intense lobbying occurs. Only when the tax revenues are used to back loans will the money be committed to specific projects, and the program puts that off for several years. This sales tax is expected to raise at least $500M, and we think it should be more committed to a more balanced system.
• Ignores other funding: Other counties and smart villages charge developers impact fees. These raise road revenues, and encourage more compact development patterns that conserve open space. Lake County could but does not. The Program also makes no mention of money available as generous Congestion Mitigation / Air Quality grants from the federal government that could account for 50% of the Program funding. Absent also is an accounting for any contribution by the municipalities where ITS will be implemented. Altogether these could double the available funds, leaving half of the money unaccounted for by the Program. These oversights further highlight the question of how the money will be spent, and raise the question why the county is asking for a half percent rather than the amount sought with no Program in its last referendum.