Of the north-south roads that the proposed Illiana Expressway will cross, most are expected to remain open, according to the latest designs.

Ten of the 15 roads in Indiana will not be blocked and 20 of the 36 in Illinois will also remain open, said Steve Schilke, an Illiana Expressway project manager for the Illinois Department of Transportation, during the first public meeting of the second development phase of the project $1.3-billion project.

In all 35 of the 51 — or 68 percent — of the roads crossed by the expressway would remain open, and that’s a key point of concern for many township, villages and counties. The Illiana would link Interstate 65 near Cedar Lake in Indiana to Interstate 55 near Wilmington.

Some of the roads that would be stopped by the Illiana in Will County include Western Avenue, Kedzie Road, Crawford Avenue, Egyptian Trail and Ridgeland Avenue.

No decisions regarding these roads have been finalized.

“We’re not trying to [negatively] impact business with this expressway and farming is a business,” Schilke said near the conclusion of the three-hour meeting at Peotone High School. “We’re working with farmers and these access issues as best we can.”

While the expressway, and its impact on residents, is a chief issue of the Tier Two study, financing of the project also is being aggressively investigated.

“We’re trying to build a road. The question is how do we do it? We don’t have those answers yet, but it seems more than likely this will be a toll road.”

Regarding the key question of buying the property needed for the 46.8-mile road, Schilke said land acquisition will come in the third phase of the project, likely in 2014. The final version of the road’s alignment is anticipated to be determined by late summer or early fall.

SEVER STOREY NOTE: The attorneys at Sever Storey have been aggressively reaching out to landowners that may be affected by Illiana. We have held several seminars and intend on having another in the fall when the route is picked. An important thing to remember about Illiana is that it won’t just be about the primary route, but the ingress/egress arteries will have devastating impacts on surrounding properties.

Full story here.

If you think you may be affected by Illiana and/or are interested in a free consultation, contact our eminent domain landowner attorneys at 1-888-318-3761 or visit us on the web at www.landownerattorneys.com.