Gov. J.B. Pritzker joined village, county and state officials Thursday in cutting a ribbon across the Longmeadow Parkway bridge over the Fox River, marking the ceremonial finish of a $205 million roadway linking Carpentersville, Algonquin and Barrington Hills.
“It’s always a great pleasure to be here in Kane County, even more so when we get to celebrate the completion of a Rebuild Illinois project and one that’s waited for too long to open up,” Pritzker said.
The 5.6-mile, four-lane road/bridge represent yet another project brought to completion in the state’s efforts to update its transportation infrastructure after years of neglect, the governor said. The state’s commitment to building, rebuilding and repairing has CNBC ranking Illinois No. 1 in the country for infrastructure, he said.
“With the completion of work on the Longmeadow Park bridge, we are not only modernizing a key stretch of roadway to improve safety, capacity and efficiency, we are also saving Illinoisans time and money,” Pritzker said. “This is the core of what government should be doing across the board. I’m exceedingly proud of what we’ve been able to make good on when it comes to that mission.”
The bridge opened to public use shortly after the event was held.
Before work started on both the road and bridge in the 1990s, the county had secured state and federal money for construction. When it became clear there would be a $35 million shortfall in the money needed to build the $170 million bridge, the Kane County Board decided a toll would have to be paid by users to fund its completion.
That’s when Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pierog and local legislators, including state Sen. Cristina Castro and state Rep. Suzanne Ness, started lobbying for — and were evenually able to secure — additional funding to get the span built without requiring a toll. McHenry County contributed $1 million toward the pricetag.
Finding the money needed was a bipartisan effort, Pierog said.
“Together, magic happens,” she said. “We knew it was going to get done.”
The parkway’s first permits were issued by the Kane County Division of Transportation in the early 1990s, KDOT Director Carol Schoedel said, but the concept actually dates back 50 years to the village of Algonquin’s strategic plan.
“I’m a relative newcomer to the project having only started in … 1997,” Schoedel joked.
“Obviously, this has been a monumental achievement for the staff of the division of transportation,” Schoedel said. “(It was) a massive and complex project for three decades. It’s been the source of enormous challenges, deep disappointment, frustration, fear … blood, sweat, and tears. You get the idea.”
Ness, on hand for the event, summed up her pleasure in knowing the span was ready for use: “Enjoy your bridge.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
