The developer of a $100 million racetrack proposed south of Joliet shifted gears Tuesday and pledged $3.7 million in road improvements to cope with traffic congestion near the facility.
The promise, which was unveiled before the Will County Board’s Public Works Committee, is a departure from promoters’ assertions last month that traffic management alone could cope with the cars heading to and from the proposed 75,000-seat auto raceway.
County officials said Tuesday’s proposal by developer Motorsports Alliance Inc. is a far cry from the $39 million in road improvements they say are needed to avoid gridlock around the track.
The developer’s plan calls for a 2-mile stretch of Laraway Road on the north side of the facility to be expanded to three lanes and the repaving of Schweitzer Road on the south side.
“We have not agreed that is all that’s necessary,” said Sheldon Latz, the county highway engineer.
He said the question of what improvements are essential hinges on willingness to endure traffic tieups.
“There is a philosophical issue,” Latz said. “The County Board has to decide how long they are willing (to allow) backups to be.”
Latz has said $39 million in road improvements are needed to handle the 25,000 vehicles that highway engineers say will visit the track on three race Sundays a year.
Sheriff Brendan Ward has estimated the cost of policing traffic for a Sunday race at $25,000 a day.
Each of the three national events planned for the NASCAR Indy-style track would begin on a Friday, with two days of practice and qualifying runs culminating in a 2 1/2-hour race on a Sunday afternoon.
County officials say developers or Joliet should pick up public costs tied directly to the events.
George Barr, a Joliet investor in the venture that includes the owners of the new Route 66 Raceway about a mile away, said many of the NASCAR track’s economic benefits go beyond the $100 million construction cost.
“The benefits can’t all be quantified,” said Barr, who likens the impact of the track to a city landing a Super Bowl football game.
Also Tuesday, Motorsports Alliance produced an economic study by Paul Green, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Administration at Governors State University. The study, paid for by Motorsports Alliance, shows the facility would generate $304,000 a year in new revenue for Joliet and an annual economic boost of $107 million for the area.
“When this is built it would be the No. 1 tourist attraction in Joliet,” said Green.
Mary Bernhard, who lives in a new house on 10 acres of a farm that has been in her family for four generations, said officials are being too generous with the developer at the expense of area residents.
“Considering that (the track) is asking for $10 million in tax breaks over 10 years, why don’t they put that money into berms and roads?” Bernhard said.
She called for the County Board to delay a vote on tax breaks until the developer makes written commitments on noise, traffic, environmental impacts and racing hours.
“They’re going to use that track for trials and tests, and even though the traffic may not be as bad, you’re still going to have that noise,” Bernhard said.
The proposal moves next to the County Board’s Executive Committee, which is to meet Thursday.
The Public Works Committee, which made no recommendation, called for Latz and Ward to continue negotiating with the developer on the county’s costs.
The County Board is one of five governmental units that must approve the tax breaks before they go to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs for final approval.
