Sugar Grove seeks funds for interchange upgrade
By Matt Brennan For The Beacon-News March 6, 2013 3:38PM
Updated: April 8, 2013 7:22AM
SUGAR GROVE — The village expects to find out by April whether it will receive any funding from the federal government to complete the interchange at Interstate 88 and Route 47.
Sugar Grove made an official request on Tuesday for $8 million of federal funding previously earmarked for the Prairie Parkway project. With that project failing to move forward, funds are being used for improvements along Route 47 between I-80 and I-88.
A completed interchange has been a priority for a number of years, and is part of the long-term planning for Kane County and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency For Planning.
“This isn’t a new thing that just came up,” Sugar Grove Village Administrator Brent Eichelberger said.
The project will cost roughly $20 million, and will likely receive 50 percent funding from the Illinois Tollway. From that point, they will better be able to determine what the local share for the cost of the project will be.
The interchange is north of Waubonsee Community College. Motorists can exit I-88 onto 47 from the west, but not the east. They also cannot enter I-88 to head east.
A completed interchange would help attract development, Eichelberger said.
There is space available for office, industrial, research, retail and hotel development in the area, contingent on the completed interchange. The development could add up to 5,000 new jobs and pump $3.6 million worth of non-residential property taxes back into the school system, he said.
Even if money for the interchange is secured, construction could be another three years out, he said.
There is roughly $52 million in leftover Prairie Parkway funding, and $125 million in proposed projects.
Kendall County and Yorkville officials have proposed using the funds for widening Route 47 between Kennedy Road in Yorkville and Cross Street in Sugar Grove.
While widening Route 47 between Sugar Grove and Yorkville might be helpful, that project alone comes with a $75 million price tag, Eichelberger said.
