Thank you, Mayor Lentz.
I believe you have gotten it right on your position in the Lake County task force for the disposition of land for from the Route 53 extension right of way into Lake County. You know you were doomed right away when the task force consisted only of villages along the right of way, and not the general population of Lake County.
That fact virtually assured that the only recommendation outcome would be to get the land away from IDOT to ensure Route 53 would not extend into Lake County.
This comment of yours certainly makes sense to me: “The village wants the property to stay with IDOT as interim open space with flexible uses like farming or recreation. As we keep growing, eventually there will be a need for another corridor in central Lake County, and it’s Mundelein’s position it would not be good governance to forever doom central Lake County to be traffic-impacted.”
I believe your phrase of to “doom central Lake County to be traffic impacted” refers not only to Mundelein (pop. 31,560) but to the other large communities in North Central Lake County, such as the four Round Lake villages (combined pop. 55,998), Grayslake (21,121), Libertyville (20,500).
The limited-access highway would have made good sense for the industrial parks of Grayslake, Libertyville and Mundelein, giving the many warehouses access to numerous Chicago suburbs, via limited access highways 53, 290 and 355, as well as interstates 55 and 80.
For 24 years, I drove country Lake County roads to the Route 53 freeway entrance from Central Lake County to jobs in west Cook County, thinking the Route 53 extension land has been purchased and the road is coming.
Well, it never came, and now traffic is a lot worse than before.
Wesley Rouse
Round Lake
