Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike said Saturday afternoon a bill pending in Springfield to allow Will County to use quick take powers to seize property along 143rd Street is on hold until fall.
Neitzke-Troike and Will County Board member Jim Richmond, whose district includes Homer Glen, headed to the capitol to ensure lawmakers didn’t plan a last-minute vote before the legislature’s spring session ended Saturday.
Both Neitzke-Troike and Richmond said they talked to numerous state representatives, senators, legislative assistants and lobbyists to protest the county’s use of quick take along 143rd Street.
The Will County Division of Transportation is hoping to begin widening 143rd Street through Homer Glen next year, but Homer Glen and Homer Township officials would like to put the brakes on the project and discuss options other than the planned five-lane roadway.
The expansion is opposed by many residents, who have protested the project for at least 18 months. Residents and local officials said it would disrupt the rural nature of the area and invite more noise, trucks and traffic.
The street is under the jurisdiction of Will County, which has said the expansion is needed to improve traffic flow and safety.
Village officials said studies to widen 143rd Street from State Street/Lemont Road to Bell Road are outdated and were completed long before the Illinois Department of Transportation widened 159th Street.
“Our residents are adamant this is not a five-lane road, and that’s who we are representing,” Homer Glen Village Manager Joe Baber said.
Baber and Neitzke-Troike said residents have actively filled out witness slips opposing the county’s use of quick-take powers.
Neitzke-Troike said 240 of the 260 witness slips filled out for the original House bill opposed the legislation authorizing quick take powers. Residents continued to fill out witness slips when amendments to the House bill were introduced and nearly all of them were against the project, Neitzke-Troike said.
“I believe Springfield heard us,” Neitzke-Troike said. “They are doing what government is supposed to be doing, which is listening to the people.”
The bill is in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
While the road project is not stopped, it buys the village more time to come up with a more palatable solution.
“I’m very thankful, and it gave me hope that we can come to a middle ground on what’s best for the residents of Homer Glen,” Neitzke-Troike said. “My job is to protect the people in our community, and that’s what I’m doing.”
She plans to continue meeting with county leaders to come up with a solution that village officials and residents could get behind. One possible option is a center or third lane with curbs that would require less land to be acquired and be cheaper.
Richmond, the County Board’s Republican Leader, said he has always been opposed to the five-lane expansion of 143rd Street.
“Hopefully we can come up with some type of compromise,” Richmond said.
Will County began engineering studies on the 159th Street expansion in 2009, and County Board members have voiced their support for the project for more than a decade.
In November 2023, the County Board approved a resolution requesting Springfield approve quick-take powers to acquire right of way for the 143rd Street project. The resolution passed 12-11 along party lines with Democrats supporting quick take.
The County Board in June 2024 approved its five-year transportation plan by a 17-3 vote, which included the 143rd Street widening as among the county’s expenditures.
The total cost for the 143rd Street widening is about $72.6 million and $6.2 million has already been spent, county spokesman Mike Theodore said.
The county has also received a $7 million federal grant, which must be obligated in 2026, Theodore said. Any delays in the project could put those funds at risk, he said.
But the repercussions could extend beyond the Homer Glen road widening project, Theodore said.
“Failure to obligate these funds could negatively impact Will County’s ability to receive these roadway dollars in the future, as the federal government would not have faith in the county’s ability to implement projects that were approved repeatedly for years,” Theodore said.
“As the fastest-growing county in Illinois with rising infrastructure needs, federal funding provides a critical supplement to Will County roadway projects. Putting this at risk could have long-term implications on the county’s budget.”
The 143rd Street expansion has long been controversial. In February 2024, the County Board voted to halt the project as planned and look into a three-lane option.
County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant mistakenly signed that resolution and subsequently vetoed it, leading 10 County Board Republicans to file a lawsuit against her.
“Will County has held a consistent position since 2009: That the existing two-lane road is a danger to the public, impedes the flow of traffic, and prevents the safe passage of residents throughout the county,” Bertino-Tarrant said in her veto.
The lawsuit against her was dismissed earlier this year in Will County Circuit Court.
Neitzke-Troike said she hopes to speak with Bertino-Tarrant about the village’s concerns. Richmond said he would like the 143rd Street project to be added to future County Board transportation committee agendas.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
