A poll that the Greater Aurora Chamber of Commerce says shows wide support for an outer beltway through Kane and Kendall Counties is providing fodder for opponents.
The poll results show nearly 60 percent of the 400 registered voters who responded favor building the outer-belt highway, while 25 percent oppose it.
The number jumps to 77 percent in favor of a state proposal to protect a corridor for the possible highway, according to the poll done for the Citizens for Common Sense Transportation Planning, the chamber’s ad hoc committee. Those opposed totaled 18 percent.
The chamber favors the outer belt, or Prairie Parkway, the proposed north-south highway to connect Interstate Highways 88 and 80 in Kane, Kendall and Grundy Counties.
The poll was conducted Jan. 23 and 24 by Public Opinion Strategies, an Alexandria, Va.-based firm. It had a margin of error of 4.9 percent.
“Clearly, the vast majority of people in our area want to establish and study a corridor for the outer-belt project,” chamber president Steven L. Hatcher said. “I urge our local and state leaders to listen to their constituents and move this project forward.”
But Kane County Board Chairman Mike McCoy (R-Aurora) pointed to other parts of the study that showed 73 percent of the respondents were concerned about uncontrolled growth in the area.
McCoy has opposed the state’s proposal for a protected corridor, saying it would destroy farmland and lead to rampant development.
“People want to relieve congestion,” he said. “They don’t want it as a growth corridor.”
Meanwhile, Jan Strasma, chairman of Citizens Against the Sprawlway, challenged the poll, saying it was constructed to elicit favorable responses.
Hatcher denied that.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s legit,” he said. “We certainly didn’t slant it in our favor.”
