Before the month is out, a highly selective group of residents and property owners along the banks of the Eisenhower Expressway will be asked to cast binding votes as to whether they want 13- to 15-foot-tall “noise walls” constructed in their immediate neighborhood.
Not constructed next spring. Actually not constructed until the massive project to totally rebuild the Ike — adding lanes, shifting rail lines, deepening the ditch by 8 feet and raising and moving the exit ramps to the sides of the highway — gets underway. When will that be? Truly, no one has a clue. Years, certainly. Within a decade, maybe.
So while we appreciate the power-to-the-people approach of the Illinois Department of Transportation in this single matter, we do wonder, what’s the rush? There will be people voting on this who will be dead or living in Kansas before the first lane is excavated.
Village government is claiming innocent bystander status in this vote. It will host an informational meeting this Thursday for residents, but officials will take no position.
Our position is that this vote is premature.
