The roadblock to Route 53 extension

“Shall the state of Illinois construct the extension of Route 53 from Lake-Cook Road northerly to the existing Route 120?”

Indeed it should, voters in Lake County said in that 2009 advisory referendum.

So planners, environmentalists, labor unions, road builders and elected officials joined together in an advisory council that gravitated toward a four-lane parkway meant to move a lot of cars while minimizing environmental destruction.

It seemed that Lake County, divided for decades over whether to build the highway, was moving full-speed ahead on the project.

Until this week, when sobering news from the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority put on the brakes.

Since the 2009 vote, the expressway had morphed into a tollway as the state grew more impoverished. But even with tolls as high as 20 to 40 cents per mile (the tollway average is 6 cents per mile), the project is up to $2 billion short, tollway planners told the advisory council this week.

How to remedy that? Unfortunately, virtually every idea presented so far is objectionable.

A Lake County-only sales tax or gas tax hike to help fund the road, for instance, would be ill-timed in a still-struggling economy and would unfairly put the burden on one geographic area — something the toll authority rejected in insisting that drivers on the entire tollway system bear the costs of extending the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway and building a bypass along the western edge of O’Hare International Airport.

Those in Lake County also should be wary of pledging a portion of property taxes from new development near the Route 53 extension to pay for the road. The theory “if you build it, they will come” might not work in a down economy.

Adding tolls to existing Route 53 in Cook County to help cover the costs? Unfair to the road’s daily users and impractical, since the federal government would require costly upgrades, some tollway officials said.

A systemwide toll increase to pay for the new road? While it might be equitable, who could support that after the hit drivers took when tolls nearly doubled Jan. 1?

For now, that leaves an option mentioned by tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur, who said the agency might have some leftover revenue from the toll hike, which was designated to fund $12 billion for the Elgin-O’Hare/airport bypass project and other improvements, plus the Route 53 study.

We urge the toll authority to explore that further, while seeking broad input on priorities for any such funds. The advisory council, meanwhile, should look for ways to pare road-building costs without dumping all environmental protections.

Reality turned out a lot different than that 2009 ballot question implied. Because of that, much more public involvement should be solicited in figuring out how to pay for Route 53.