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A tale of two proposed Will County bridges

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Illinois

Congressman Bobby Rush is demanding that Governor Pritzker take action that could bring ten-thousand jobs to the Joliet area. Rush called on the governor to sign a bill in order for construction of a Compass Global Logistics Hub otherwise known as NorthPoint to proceed in Joliet.

The two-billion-dollar hub would serve as a relay point for goods arriving by rail. The project was approved by the Joliet City Council in December. But groups such as Stop NorthPoint have filed lawsuits against the City of Joliet to stop NorthPoint. The group is also encouraging Governor J.B. Pritzker to protect Abraham Lincoln National cemetery from the truck noise, pollution. Plus they want the Governor to keep the proposed bridge in local control.

Meanwhile, Warehouse Workers for Justice held protest in Joliet Friday, to rally residents and encourage Governor J.B. Pritzker to hold his ground and not intervene in the Elwood bridge situation.This protest follows growing unrest around large warehouse and logistics centers in the southland and more plaintiffs joining lawsuits against Northpoint and Joliet. WWJ was joined by local residents, current and former warehouse workers and members of the group Just Say No To Northpoint to demand local officials honor the wishes of Elwood.

* Also WJOL…

Contracts have been signed for the Houbolt Road 200-million dollar extension. The 1.5 mile roadway project will extend from the existing Houbolt Road/Route 6 intersection south to the Schweitzer/Vetter Road intersection. The project will create a new access point to facilitate the efficient flow of traffic and safety. The route provides a more direct path for trucks to access I-80, taking traffic off local road likes Route 53. The Houbolt Road Extension Joint Venture will use an open road all-electronic toll system integrated with I-Pass.

The City of Joliet is expected to get $1-million a year from tolls and Will County expected to make $500,000 a year in collected tolls.

The Houbolt Road Extension is a business partnership between CenterPoint Properties and United Bridge Partners.

In Will County up to one-third of the country’s freight movement is generated by, attracted to, or passes through our region.

Artist rendering of the Houbolt bridge…

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 9:58 am

Comments

Who wrote these things? No bylines, switches to the first person voice in the final paragraph (copy/pasted from WWJ website apparently), really difficult to understand.

So CenterPoint wants to build NorthPoint with a bridge it financed with a private bridge builder? Without knowing for sure that NorthPoint will be built?

Comment by Lefty Lefty Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:15 am
More importantly, is there a statutory mechanism for the County of Will to basically open a toll road? I know Will County isn’t home rule, so there must be one somewhere if the County is going to get toll revenue.

Comment by Just Another Anon Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:23 am
Statutory authority comes from an 1874 law allowing a private entity to petition a county for permission to build a toll bridge, provided that the bridge has a 4 1/2 foot high barrier (assume this is to keep horses from jumping off).
My query, if Joliet and Will Co are getting $1.5 million a year in tolls, how much will the bridge owners be getting every year? $1.5 million a year is peanuts if other are taking in $10 million / year.

Comment by Ares Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:01 am
Glad to see we have one elected Democrats urging Governor Pritzker to use the power of his office to allow for the creation of ten thousand new private sector jobs for a state with 9th highest number of unemployed residents in the US.

https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

Comment by Lucky Pierre Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:17 am
@Lucky Pierre: recall that Elwood is the poster child for towns that have soured on logistics centers. They’re bearing all the costs and see little of the benefit.
https://newrepublic.com/article/152836/elwood-illinois-pop-2200-become-vital-hub-americas-consumer-economy-its-hell

Comment by Benjamin Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:31 am
==The project will create a new access point to facilitate the efficient flow of traffic and safety. The route provides a more direct path for trucks to access I-80, taking traffic off local road likes Route 53.==

Seems to me that this would remove a tremendous burden from the local communities.

Comment by SAP Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:57 am
How much are the tolls going to be?

Comment by Joe Schmoe Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:03 pm
I-55 from Arsenal to the I-80 interchange is a mess. From the BNSF intermodal to all of the logistics parks being built the entire system needs to be rebuilt. Is the bridge the best solution? Not sure but it has to help and it’s not like the warehouses or our desire to shop online is going anywhere.

And the time to protect the national cemetery was long ago. The BNSF parks tens of thousands of boxes and loads mile long freight trains within a half mile of the grounds.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:03 pm
Low-wage jobs unable to put $ into economy + lack of affordable rental housing + munis drained of tax revenues due to tax abatements / incentives + congestion munis are unable to fix due to above foregone revenues = disaster for locals

Comment by Ares Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:14 pm
Transportation projects should not be funded based on the political demands of a Congressman, or passing a bill through the legislature. They should be scored and based on need and impact. I’m sure there are millions of other transportation projects that would also create economic development opportunities too. We can’t build them all, especially when the politicians don’t like doing the heavy lifting of paying for them.

Comment by Just Me 2 Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:30 pm
Just Me 2 - the Houbolt Bridge is a perfect example of a need being met, and being basically paid for by user costs, demonstrating that there is an unmet need that people and businesses are willing to invest their money in in the form of tolls. Not all transportation projects are as well situated as this one.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:58 pm
While granted there are unemployed people who would like the jobs and the state could sorely use the jobs you wind up with a tragedy of the commons problem. Why would a given suburb choose to house a bunch of these businesses when only a very small number of the employees are actually going to be located specifically within the suburb that it is built in? Especially when these businesses are going to cause traffic and pollution for your residents, the cast majority of whom do not work for them. The only benefit would be the tax revenue, but because of the intense competition, even that doesn’t seem to come into this calculation.

Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 1:12 pm
Then tax abatement ends in 2022.

Elburn’s finances should start to improve then

Comment by Lucky Pierre Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 1:27 pm